2.4 Transformative pedagogy through advanced technologies: a  (Page 3/8)

Background

In addition to the university-district partnership program, the university offered a traditional course-based program that was experiencing declining enrollments and unsatisfactory student evaluations. Several professors had experience with applying advanced technologies and managing online learning environments. The need to change the existing course-based preparation program, and the success of the district-university program were levers that opened the box of traditional coursework and allowed an exploration into the benefits of discrete courses vs. field-based projects. As the transition from classroom-based to online delivery continued, the potential of utilizing the core project-based structure of the partnership program as the focus of online modules, rather than transitioning the traditional courses into separate and discrete online modules, emerged. The university-district partnership program was personalized and built around the power of developing a strong network and learning community. Would it be possible to replicate the pedagogy and outcomes into a blended online model? Is it possible to develop strong learning communities in an online delivery model? The development of the project-based online modules was conceptually simple because the faculty had experience developing project criteria; however, the capacity of this online derivation to transform candidates’ thinking and develop a powerful learning community was met with skepticism from university faculty.

Conceptual framework of blended online program design

The transformation of this university-district partnership program to a blended-online program embraced the spiral process that used field experience in schools to ground the theoretical and conceptual learning from the coursework. The place of connection for the theory and practice became the online learning environment rather than the weekly classes, and the context for application was the participants’ schools in multiple districts rather than one school in the partnership district. As the online learning community emerged through the combination of two in-person workshops per quarter and weekly online discussions the power of the inquiry projects to promote leadership learning was revealed. This application of innovative technologies was grounded in a project-based and integrative learning environment that used the participants’ context as the unit of analysis and site for critical inquiry and a leadership practice field. The utilization of technology actually enhanced the work because the interaction of participants was not limited by time and proximity. Both the university-district partnership program and blended online programs share a common evaluation framework and project design, and this consistency offered a unique opportunity to explore the impact of the utilization of advanced technologies in the delivery of a professional preparation program. Initial findings revealed that program participants in both programs report similar outcomes. Regardless of the delivery system, aspiring school leaders in these programs were engaged in the real work of school leadership and culture building and a reflection process that allowed them to be able to critically examine their experiences and evaluate their practices. Three technology-facilitated practices were integrated to bring about a successful transformation from ground to distance. The framework utilized in the program design was intended to engage program participants through technology-based teaching and learning. The instructional technologies critical to the success of the program (online communities of inquiry, online threaded discussions, ePortfolios, and reflection journals) will be discussed. Finally, we will present the analysis of the impact of the program and elucidate the implications for professional preparation programs with particular consideration for blended or online programs.