Learning Through Designing Online Practice-Based Learning Labs for K–2 Teachers

• In Event: 77.038 - Discourse in the Digital World: Design and Facilitation of Online Teacher Professional Development

Abstract

Objectives

It is well established that effective professional learning opportunities are 1) connected to teachers’ classroom practice, and 2) collaborative, enabling teachers to experiment with new practices together (Ball & Cohen, 1999; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Darling-Hammond & Richardson, 2009; Grossman, Hammerness, & McDonald, 2009). However, the growing prominence of online and blended forms of PD poses new opportunities and challenges for collective practice-based approaches. This paper documents our iterative design process for developing online, practice-based professional Learning Labs for K-2 teachers, foregrounding emergent challenges as critical events for shaping both our design and understanding of teacher learning in such environments.


Perspective

Learning in and from practice involves cultivating a stance of inquiry into practice in relation to student learning (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), with opportunities to investigate, enact, and reflect on new forms of practice (Grossman et al., 2009; McDonald, Kazemi, & Kavanagh, 2013). This literature informed our design principles for Learning Labs focused on engaging young children in mathematical and scientific modeling:

1. Focus on children’s thinking
2. Engage teachers in mathematical or scientific modeling as learners
3. Ground learning of practices in authentic classroom examples
4. Develop a community in which teachers open up their practice, in part through trying on and sharing experiences with common activities in their classrooms
5. Engage teachers in iterative cycles of planning, enactment, and analysis

We sought to instantiate these principles online through strategic work with classroom video and artifacts, common classroom activities for teachers to try, and reflective discussion prompts.


Methods and Data

We drew on design-based methods (Edelson, 2002; Penuel et al., 2011), unpacking challenges and design decisions as we iterated with the above principles across Lab implementation contexts. Our primary data sources included records of teachers’ participation in the Labs, surveys of teachers’ experiences in the Labs and their instructional and professional contexts, and documentation of design decisions we made.


Results

In this paper, we report on three challenges and the designs and learnings that emerged. Briefly, the first challenge involved drastic differences in participation across math and science pilots when we designed purely online versions of the Labs. This challenge inspired a new design principle: Leverage existing or familiar participation structures to encourage active, ongoing participation. The math Lab already engaged this principle, in part due to vibrant Twitter communities centered on elementary mathematics; in science, we re-envisioned the Lab as a blended model to connect with district partners who traditionally did in-person PD. The blended model saw enhanced participation and evidence of practice-based professional learning across modalities. Subsequent challenges and learnings that we discuss in the full paper included striking a generative interplay between online and in-person opportunities and scaling our small-group design to support a district-wide PD effort.


Significance

This study contributes to a growing understanding of designing for and substantively engaging teachers in online PD. In particular, it demonstrates how practice-based professional learning can be enacted in online settings, and elevates insights and questions about organizing modalities and groups to support productive forms of learning and discourse.

Authors

• Jessica J. Thompson, University of Washington

• Jennifer Richards, Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy Learning Sciences