Abstract

Issue-based learning is a pedagogical approach that features learning opportunities contextualized in compelling, societal issues that face students in their lives beyond school. COVID-19 is a global health emergency and represents that kind of societal challenge that can serve as the basis for issue-based learning. In this project, we facilitated teacher professional development in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with the aim of collaboratively designing instructional activities to teach about COVID-19. We used videoconferencing technologies to carry out the professional development in the wake of school and university closures. Breakout rooms within the videoconferencing platform and an online collaborative space were particularly important for the successful enactment of this program. The group was able to design four instructional activities each of which incorporates different forms of technology. These technologies include a computational simulation, systems thinking tools, a mathematical model created through a spreadsheet, and media and information literacy tools. Project teachers are implementing these materials, and their feedback and results will be used to revise and improve the materials as we move toward design of a coherent unit that integrates the activities and aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards.

Citation

Sadler, T.D., Friedrichsen, P., Zangori, L. & Ke, L. (2020). Technology-Supported Professional Development for Collaborative Design of COVID-19 Instructional Materials. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 28(2), 171-177. Waynesville, NC USA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education. Retrieved June 8, 2023 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/216087/.

© 2020 Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education