NSF Awards: 1758243
Our Developing STEM Master Teachers to Lead Digital Conversion in K-12 Schools project, supported by a 2018 award from NSF’s Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship (MTF) program, was little more than a year underway when COVID-19 hit, causing a major crisis across K-12 education. In Spring 2020, our 21 fellows were just completing the first component of this 5-year program, which focused on preparing them to leverage the potential of digital technologies to support inquiry-oriented teaching in their own STEM classrooms (featured in the 2020 video #1843). During summer 2020, as originally planned, the program began to focus on developing our fellows’ skills and identities as leaders beyond their classrooms. However, restrictions imposed by social distancing and new demands for our fellows’ emerging expertise on instructional technology called for changed expectations for our fellows, and thus also some important modifications in our original plan.
In this video, we feature the stories of a few of these emerging instructional leaders, reporting on the diverse roles they were asked to play in different districts, how our project as well as their administrators supported them in these roles, and the impact these early leadership experiences had on their schools as well as their own leadership development. We will also draw from this unique experience more general implications about the impact that a major crisis may have for developing leaders and the preparation of future educational leaders.
Zenon Borys
Assistant Director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age
Our fellows are still in the midst of their leadership journey and we find ourselves wondering what transitioning out of pandemic operations will mean for leadership in schools and education in general. We are looking forward to hearing what you thought about the examples we shared and any questions you might have. In particular we are hoping to discuss:
Marcello Rossi
Anne Kern
Professor
Hello Digital Leaders Noyce Program,
It still amazes me how quickly the world became "Zoom" masters as soon as the COVID lockdown hit. The rapid pace of technology, in particular, educational technology, makes me a bit scared. Are there any guidelines or rubrics that you have to help teachers and tech-hesitant folks to determine what technology is going to be easy/useful to integrate and what would take a Ph.D. to use and integrate?
Cheers,
Anne
Nicole Charles
Hi Anne, I agree - educational technology has experienced exponential growth in response to the pandemic. As one of the NOYCE fellows, I was very fortunate that much of our pre-covid coursework focused on meaningful integration of tech tools, always keeping the focus on the key learning objectives - and then considering how technology might be used enhance (or in some cases transform) the lesson and learning. Both the SAMR model and the tpack model have been foundational to our planning and implementation work. I've also found that the pandemic has created many avenues for teacher leadership - both formally and informally. Teacher leaders can be great assets for assisting tech-hesitant folks with deciding where to start. In this age of open communication and access, no one should feel as though they have to figure it out alone.
Anne Papakonstantinou
Our team would love to hear more about your work during COVID-19.
Cynthia Carson
Academic Program Coordinator
Thank you Anne for your interest in our project. Are there specific areas of interest in our project that you are curious about? The past year has definitely prompted a number of changes to our program such as, operating fully remotely, reimagining the fellows projects, and a focus on developing the fellows' leadership roles as they supported teachers, parents, and community members in their own districts.
Anne Papakonstantinou
I would love to learn about the impact of this work and what Fellows learned from their roles.
Cynthia Carson
Academic Program Coordinator
There is no doubt that the pandemic has opened new doors for many of our fellows. Many of them found themselves as a resource to fellow teachers and administrators sharing their knowledge of instructional technology and ways to increase student to student interactions in remote learning.
Anne Papakonstantinou
This is what we are finding too.
Pat Friedrichsen
What a great project! During the pandemic, many teachers needed help with technology and the Noyce scholars were prepared to step into this leadership role. Do you have plans to continue to follow the Noyce scholars to see if they take on additional leadership roles?
Raffaella Borasi
Professor of Education and Director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age
The teachers featured in this video are actually Noyce Master Teaching Fellows (not Scholars), who will be working with us for the next two years of the project - so we will indeed have a unique opportunity to document what other leadership roles they will be taking on, as well as the longer-term impact of these experiences during the pandemic on their leadership development and journey.
Ann Cavallo
Anne Papakonstantinou
We are planning to do that and will continue to provide them with other leadership opportunities beyond the life of the grant. The fellows are members of our network and are offered opportunities to present at our conferences and provide professional development for K-12 teachers through RUSMP.
Lisa Lamb
Hi Zenon! Your team really highlighted some of the features of the pandemic that were a catalyst for change. Like you, our team realized some features of virtual learning that we may continue going forward. For example, recording lessons and having teachers select a portion of a lesson for which they would like feedback supported teachers and coaches to trust the process more. Often, coaches come into a lesson and watch in real time. By recording sessions and having teachers select portions of the lesson to discuss, they have more control over their own learning, and that seems to be a real benefit. Wishing you and your project well!
Zenon Borys
Assistant Director of the Center for Learning in the Digital Age
Thanks, Lisa. I couldn't agree more. The changes brought on will have a ripple effect once it's all over. And, as exhausted as I'm sure all are, there is a bit of excitement in getting to ask what works better and what do we want to keep moving forward? Building on your idea, yes! In addition to having more control over learning and precision of content - the audience can be shifted, too. Teachers aren't limited to their own buildings/districts, if the opportunity is right, to learn from each other and "open their doors/share their zooms."
Anne Papakonstantinou
We even had one of our Fellows teaching from Mexico, because he couldn't get back to the US, and several Fellows noted that their own students are scattered around the world. There are new challenges and successes every day. We have learned a lot from everyone we encounter and from challenges we have overcome.
Anne Papakonstantinou
Teaching and mentoring will never return to pre-pandemic times. We've learned so much about engaging and assessing students, and technology provides a good approach to use in face-to-face situations. During the year, we also peeked into video-taped lessons of Noyce teachers to provide feedback. We had flipped classrooms and graphing tools before COVID-19. Now we have so much more. You also mentioned the word "trust." There are so many layers to that word. Trust at all levels is needed for honest interactions between students, between teachers and students, between teachers, etc.
Nicole Charles
Anne, I agree! Trust is paramount. I would also add to your list above that trust needs to exist between administration and teachers. This year has required ongoing flexibility and responsiveness on everyone's part. Open communication has been essential to navigating the challenges that we've had to face along the way. I'm very fortunate to feel extremely supported and trusted by all stakeholders in my own district but, as a NOYCE fellow, I've also benefited from the support of the other fellows, my mentor, and my engagement in the coursework.
Cynthia Callard
Anne Papakonstantinou
Absolutely, open communication is essential to ensure success. Trust between administrators and teachers is crucial (that was the etc.). All need to be forgiving... everyone is doing his/her best. Technology has added another issue to manage. Connectivity can be a problem that we can't control. Patience and kindness are traits that everyone is developing ... students, parents, teachers, and leaders.
Ann Cavallo
Assistant Vice Provost and Director, CRTLE
Nice presentation! I especially like the idea of Tech Fridays as that has a casual feel to it and is inviting for those who may be hesitant to try new technologies. What has been the impact of your efforts in engaging teachers to use technology tools in your schools beyond Zoom? How have you encouraged the most reluctant teachers to try new techniques and/or technologies for teaching online? It certainly has been a challenge for us at the university level!
Cynthia Callard
Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform
Thank you for your comment, Ann! It has been such an interesting year in education as we have ALL had to jump into the use of technology with BOTH FEET! One of the (serendipitous) aspects of our Noyce MTF program was that fellows had taken 3 graduate level courses related to digitally-rich teaching and learning prior to the pandemic (as briefly noted in the video). We purposefully focused on LEARNING first - what it means to "learn" and "how people learn," and THEN we shifted the focus to explore what are "digitally-rich learning experiences." Some of this work focused on Learning Management Systems (Google classrooms, Schoology, Microsoft Teams, etc.) and other work focused on how to incorporate digitally-rich experiences that ENHANCE learning in STEM. We used "Understanding by Design" and connected to TPACK to support fellows in designing and implementing digitally-rich units that focused on "big ideas" and essential understandings in Science and Mathematics. We really believe that technology should not be used "for technology's sake," but thoughtfully and intentionally for student learning. And these efforts take TIME (something many did not have last March!!)! Thanks for your question.
Ann Cavallo
Ann Cavallo
Assistant Vice Provost and Director, CRTLE
This is great - a focus on how students learn is so important - and then teaching to match learning from a psychology standpoint. And yes we find many use or want to use technology just to use it, but it may not meaningfully contribute to or advance the learning. Being deliberate and intentional in your use of technology and applications is key - we found the faculty were overwhelmed with choices, but not all were useful.
Anne Papakonstantinou
Ann, you are spot on. Colleagues, including those of us at the university, need to be able to depend on Fellows to support, encourage, and serve as cheer leaders. We believe in itty bitty steps rather than big jumps. Try out a feature of Zoom or any new technology, determine the effects, and then tackle another. Not only did they encourage our group, they encouraged us. It is a mutually beneficial relationship that we have in place. We certainly don't have all the answers.
Ann Cavallo
Cynthia Callard
Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform
I certainly agree Anne! We also engaged our fellows in exploring a "problem of practice" or "inquiry" into their own use of digital-technology during the pandemic. Through this supported experience, fellows explicitly generated a question that they were interested in exploring in their classroom/instruction, and then systematically collected and analyzed data related to their question. Some explored the use of digital tools, some the impact of teaching remotely on students, and some how to support collaboration and engagement in digital spaces. Their experiences were really interesting and they learned a lot both about their individual inquiry, but also about the process of engaging in teacher inquiry. Your comment about taking "small steps" and considering the effects reminded me of this process and how to support reflection on our practice (at ALL levels!). Thanks for all of your contributions to our discussion!
Anne Papakonstantinou
What you are doing takes time. Reflection is integral to your success!
Pendred Noyce
This was an inspiring video--seeing teachers who not only managed to hold their ground but actually to grow in skill and leadership during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see if the new relationships of trust and mutual aid among the teachers who worked together persists as the children come back and perhaps the classroom doors shut-- or will the team spirit of rising to the occasion persist! Proud of the Noyce scholars!
Cynthia Callard
Professor and Executive Director of the Center for Professional Development and Education Reform
Thank you for viewing our video, Pendred, and for your comment. We too, have been impressed and grateful for our fellows' efforts and actions during this challenging time. They were well-positioned to provide additional support to their colleagues, and did so in formal and informal ways. The next two years of our MTF program will actually be explicitly focused on developing and enacting leadership practices of our fellows, so we are REALLY EXCITED to see what they will do next and how their impact will continue AND spread. Thanks again for watching, and for your comment.
Anne Papakonstantinou
NSF should be proud of all the Noyce Fellows who stepped up and assumed the challenge of leading during the pandemic. All project directors deserve kudos for inspiring their Fellows to soar.
Cynthia Callard
Anne Papakonstantinou
Everything seems to take more time online. Even the mundane such as unmuting to speak and getting into breakout rooms take time. We must focus on the essence of each subject and let some of the other topics fall by the way side. Simplicity is the key. We've had to put a break to trying to "cover" everything and just focus on what is really important. This is an important lesson for post-pandemic times too. Kids and teachers need "think-sink time" and rushing never helps develop deep understanding.
Elizabeth Allan
Professor; Secondary Science Education Program Coordinator
I really like the idea of your participants choosing a problem of practice and gathering data about the implementation. How did you have them share their results and did you find that having them do the research gave them a different perspective?
Stephanie Martin
Thanks for your question, Elizabeth. In addition to presenting and getting feedback from each other, each fellow identified an audience within their own context to share their results with. This decision was based on the nature of the problem they investigated and who they felt would benefit from hearing the results. The research into their own practice provided fellows with a way to investigate student learning, student perspectives, student voice, and how instructional practice impacted these.
Eric Hamilton
Dear Zenon and team, thank you for a great presentation on transitions attached to the rapid "zoomification" of the teaching process and how leadership was forged in the process. Are there ways that teachers observed or fostered collaborative processes by students as integral to the remote learning process?
Nicole Charles
Hi Eric, I’ve had some good success this year using the collaboration space in Microsoft one note class notebook. I teach fifth grade. I have collaborative groups set up in the collaboration space for all of my reading and math groups. I also have several project spaces as well as a whole class collaboration space. The space has been really valuable to me and my students this year as it it has allowed them to work together on projects and maintain a record of their thinking. Depending on how I choose to set the permissions, I can also allow groups to see other groups work and to provide commentary or feedback. This tool has made possible what otherwise would not have been possible given the physical distancing guidelines we’ve been working with all year.
Cynthia Carson
Academic Program Coordinator
Thank you for your question Eric! Collaboration was big focus for our fellows this year, both student to student and teacher to student. The fellows reported pushing themselves to find new ways to use their current technology to increase collaboration. Several fellows went to the students to gather ideas through anonymous surveys, as well as information about what was working for students and what wasn't. One fellow reported changing the location of the zoom camera in the classroom to the back of the room, which students indicated made the remote learners feel more engaged as they could see their classmates and not just the teacher.
Eric - Have you found ways in your work to increase collaboration with students?
Sue Allen
It was interesting to hear the comment that some teachers feel coaches "were pushed on them." How much of these great forms of PD are mandatory for the teachers, or can they opt out? In our work in the out-of-school world we only work with educators wanting to sign up, but sometimes they're the ones who already do many of the practices we coach. Opening up to a coach and peers takes courage & motivation, so I don't think our model would work at all if it was mandatory for all educators.
Kimberly Fluet
University of Rochester
Hi Sue, Thanks for your comment. Great thoughts. For context, in that instance you refer to I believe the offering was something teachers could not opt-out of that was a building-level or district-level support offering. And, it was that offering which motivated our Noyce fellows to meet a need. We found the leadership exhibited by our Noyce fellows really encouraging as they were able to see the needs of their peers and respond to those needs in ways that were really valued by their peers. In some cases they responded with opt-in sessions, and in other cases they developed sessions that were tailored to the 'in the moment' needs and delivered to a smaller group of peers.
Perrin Chick
So many similarities in our offerings. I would love to hear more about using swivel and uploading the files or did you just use it in a live-streaming way. We, at the ACRES Project, have been playing around with the idea of using it, but have not yet. Would love to compare success stories.
Kimberly Fluet
University of Rochester
Hi Perrin- We've been using Swivl for coaching for several years. Being able to have a device that pairs with a smart phone or tablet and then automatically uploads to the cloud has been wonderful. I love that it tracks the teacher, as well as can receive several channels of audio (small group as well as teacher). You can toggle those channels on and off in the playback. What's also great is that if you record video using another device (a zoom recording, eg) you can upload that the your Swivl account for collaborative debrief and commenting. Even before the pandemic our Warner Center coaches made great use of the Swivl for long-distance coaching. We would be happy to compare stories. Please reach out!
Stephanie Martin
Hi Perrin, your comment made me curious about the ACRES project. Great video and fantastic way to provide coaching to afterschool educators! Just to follow up on Kim's response, I think Swivl would be a a good way to capture video/data for your project.