How do we develop educator expertise effectively and efficiently? Bernard, et al (2004) conducted over 350 experiments to compare learning media, and astoundingly found no practical differences. What does matter is how the learning is facilitated. This snapshot provides participants with the four basic building blocks to develop "the how" of their online professional learning courses.
This session will provide the foundational blocks for building educator expertise. Too often, professional development is built without the research in mind for how the learner will receive and internalize the content, but rather with a focus on the content itself. Utilizing varied delivery to model some of the research-based practices, participants will engage in peer-to-peer interactions, device-based activities (like polls and multiple-choice questions), and lecture employing versions with text, visuals (still/ video), audio and combinations. Content will cover the “Four Keys to Constructing an Expert” where the audience will discuss and analyze the research behind the choices in media platform, communication delivery, instructional methods, and instructional frames. Each of the topics will be broken into the following:
- Media Platform-discussion of the research behind the various learning platforms (face to face, online cohort, online asynchronous, textbook/ self-study, etc)
- Communication-discussion of the research behind using text, visuals (still/ video), and audio for learning
- Instructional Method-discussion of the research behind using definitions, examples, demonstrations, and practice
- Instructional Frame-discussion of research behind using receptive, directive, guided discovery, and exploratory designs
As a result of this session, participants will understand how the choices made during instructional design impact learning, and can apply the research behind content media platforms, communication modes, instructional methods, and frames for their own courses. This session has been designed based on the current research on the cognitive application of training and instructional design for optimal learning. The following resources have a significant influence on the presentation and design:
- How Does Distance Education Compare with Classroom Instruction? Robert Bernard et al. http://rer.sagepub.com/content/74/3/379.abstract
- Teaching the Teachers, Allison Gulamhussein http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/Main-Menu/Staffingstudents/Teaching-the-Teachers-Effective-Professional-Development-in-an-Era-of-High-Stakes-Accountability/Teaching-the-Teachers-Full-Report.pdf
- Understanding Professional Development from the Perspective of Social Learning Theory, Steven Watson https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/people/staff/watson/Watson_CERME8_2013_Proceedings.pdf
- Executive Function in the Classroom, Christopher Kaufman
- Building Expertise, Ruth Clark