A Distance Learning Approach to Enhancing Technology Use in Rural Schools

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A Distance Learning Approach to Enhancing
Technology Use in Rural Schools

• Jim Barber
• Wallace Hannum
• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Situation

• Large state with considerable rural population
• Challenges of NCLB
• Concerns about AYP in rural areas
• Difficult for rural teachers to get professional
  development
• Want to improve instruction in rural areas
  through technology use

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Guiding Questions

• How do we build their capacity to use technology
  to support learning?
• How can we use distance learning to offer courses
  rural students would not otherwise have?

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Our solution

1. Graduate class via interactive video
2. Certification program to teach online
3. Distributed support for professional development

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1. Graduate class

• Taught via interactive video
• Professor teaching in a studio
• Students at various sites across state

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Two-way interactive video

• Program originates in studio
• Four sites connected via fiber optics
• Video audio in all directions
• Lecture/discussion
• Project-based

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Outcomes

• Teachers became more capable of using technology
  for teaching learning
• Teachers administrators in rural areas
  completed a graduate class they otherwise would
  not have completed
• Teachers got to see what others were doing
  learn from each other

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2. Certification program

• Need
• improve quality of online instruction
• enable regular classroom teachers to teach online
  
• create several high-quality online courses
• Solution
• create inservice program for teachers who want to
  teach online
• accept only teachers with basic technology skills
  

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Organization

• Sequence of 5 courses
• 18 months to complete

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Teaching methods

• Program completely online
• Model what we preach
• Summer workshop/collaboration
• Stress interaction and collaboration
• Emphasis on developing skills, not just
  acquisition of knowledge

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Technology used

• Course management
• Content
• Discussion forums
• Document sharing
• Email
• One-to-one contact
• Individual feedback
• Coaching
• Telephone

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Outcomes

• Better knowledge of online teaching learning
• Enhanced skill in teaching online
• More online courses developed
• More opportunities for high school students to
  take online courses

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Outcomes

• Stronger pedagogy built into courses
• Cadre of online teachers able to offer more
  courses help other teachers
• Peer-to-peer support network for teaching online

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3. Distributed support for teaching

• Statewide network of educators using the power of
  the Internet to improve K-12 education.
• LEARN NC

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Teachers helping teachers

• The Teachers Network a LEARN NC trained
  coordinator in each of the 115 school systems and
  many individual schools
• Local system coordinators conduct professional
  development workshops provide ongoing feedback
  on resources

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Teachers helping teachers

• Contributing editors offer best practices and
  proven resources.
• Last year, the LEARN NC website experienced
  nearly 10,000 visitors a day!
• www.learnnc.org

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Ongoing collaboration with educational partners
generates content and opportunities
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Search results offer a variety of resources
aligned to the NC Standard Course of Study
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Access to the entire curriculum and associated
lesson plans is only a few clicks away
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Display of curriculum goals clearly displays
curriculum and associated resources.
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Access resources at the objective level
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LEARNs Curriculum Consultants review lessons
from NC teachers and from around the world and
align them to the SCoS
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Lessons are aligned to the Standard Course of
Study and reviewed as curricula are revised.
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Access other lessons addressing the same
objective from within each lesson
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Educators statewide contribute best practices
articles on a range of topics
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Quality websites are reviewed and annotated to
create a safe-surfing environment for online
research
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Grade-level interfaces create age-level
appropriate research centers for K-12 students
Take a look at Grade 2
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NC teachers provided guidance in developing
age-level appropriate media centers
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Quality sites are chosen to support the SCoS
which are written at a reading level appropriate
for each grade level
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Students search within the LEARN NC database,
avoiding inappropriate websites
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Each Media Center features a custom-written
research guide for learning how to use the web as
a resource for research.
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High School students access tools and resources
appropriate for their needs
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A collection of professional resources supports
the challenges of beginning teachers.
Resources are designed to support teaching in
N.C.
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Teachers engage in professional development at a
time most convenient for their schedules with
LEARNs Online Courses
LEARN also prepares educators to teach online and
to develop online courses.
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Featured resources include interactive tools like
writing exemplars for preparing teachers to
improve writing skills.
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Educational jargon is defined with examples with
the Education Reference section
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Each entry goes beyond a simple definition to
offer examples and related terms
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Presentation summary

• Attempting to support teachers administrators
  in underserved rural areas make better use of
  technology.
• Three programs
• Graduate course via distance learning
• Certification program for teaching online
• Ongoing support for professional development

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Emphasis

• Building capacity of teachers to use technology
  for teaching learning
• Better instructional use of technology
• Appropriate pedagogy
• Improved student achievement

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How

• Improve capacity to use technology for teaching
  and learning
• Use technology in support of capacity building
• Use distance learning to provide anytime,
  anyplace learning
• Model effective teaching learning practices

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Why?
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