Online Spaces Leading to Transformation

• In Event: 63.054 - Technology to Support Learning in Teacher Education

Abstract

Clarity is needed to determine ways in which teachers in online professional development programs engage with content and each other. Understanding this level of engagement will help clarify the depth of their learning, and therefore, what ideas and concepts they will communicate in their classrooms. How do online spaces shape the learning of teachers? Are the online learners reflecting, questioning, and revising frames of reference through dialogue and interaction as they would in face-to-face settings? Transformative learning is a theoretical perspective for viewing online education about sociocultural issues and enables greater understanding of teacher learning. This mixed method study examined evidence of transformation in an ESL online professional development program. Encouraging findings indicate evidence of transformative learning in this setting.

Author

• Karin Sprow Forté, The Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg