Self-Study of Using Google Hangout to Provide Access to Expert Knowledge

• In Event: Reframing Teaching and Learning: A Self-Study of Teacher Educators Developing Constructivist Models of Online Practice

Abstract

Robin Hummel
Using Google Hangout to Provide Access to a Diverse Set of Guest Speakers

Goals:
- To extend the resources available to graduate students in a math leadership program
- To build community among math leadership students in diverse settings
- To identify the “worthiness” of online teaching in math leadership.

Theoretical Perspectives
This research is grounded in the developmental interaction approach that is the core of Bank Street College (Nager and Shapiro, 2000). This social constructivist perspective asserts that adults and children build new understandings through interactions with others in the world around them. Technology is very much a part of today’s learning environment. Collaborative exploration is an important part of making technology a meaningful part of the education of teachers and leaders.
This work is also framed by the literature of self-study. As Loughran says, “Self-study is a way of purposefully examining this relationship between teaching and learning so that alternative perspectives on the intentions and outcomes might be better realized” (Loughran, 2006, 174). The study reported on is intended to provide an opportunity for close examination of a newly implemented program.

Findings
These online practices are designed to bring students together at a distance. For students unable to attend a synchronous session, presentations are recorded; those who cannot attend are asked to watch the recording and post their comments and questions to the forum afterward. We discovered that not only was there rich conversation happening in real time, but the nature of the structure continued to inspire discussion after it was over. This combination of synchronous and asynchronous formats for the same activity enhanced the traditional face-to-face experience because as students visited and revisited the course website and interacted with peers over time. By sharing student responses with the Online Research Group, faculty members deepened their own understanding about how the learning experiences could be extended.

Significance:
Online access to diverse speakers provides students with opportunities to extend their knowledge over time. It provides both graduate faculty and graduate students with opportunities to visit and revisit the learning experience.
When faculty share their online practices with colleagues, their own understanding of what they know and what they think they know is deepened.

References:
Loughran, J. (2006). Developing a pedagogy of teacher education. London: Routledge
Nager, N. & Shapiro, E., (Eds.). (2000). Revisiting a progressive pedagogy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Author

• Robin Ellen Hummel, Bank Street College of Education