|
Developing a Cohort
Learning Generation is a program that is designed to increase the
quantity and quality of technology use in the University of Kansas Teacher Education
Program. We strongly believe that our students need models of technology integration in
their preparation program to help them better achieve technology integration in their
practice. To create conditions that encourage the creation of effective technology
integration strategies and the development of technology rich products, Learning
Generation supports the creation of cohorts. A cohort is a group generally consisting of a
KU School of Education faculty member, a KU School of Education Student, a KU faculty
member from another department, a field based practicing teacher, and a student working
with the field based teacher. Together this team develops a plan for investigating an area
of interest and ways for infusing the teaching of the area with technology. Developing a
cohort is a six-stage process. The stages are:
Genesis >
Consultation >
Plan >
Acceptance >
Execution/Production >
Assessment
Genesis
As a journey of a thousand kilometers begins with a single step, the beginning of a great
cohort is an idea. Often these ideas come from students or practicing teachers who look to
a faculty member in the KU School of Education.
Consultation
With an idea or problem to be investigated, or with a desire to find an idea, a KU School
of Education faculty member meets informally with Dr. Steve Smith, functioning as a
faculty liaison. This meeting is to discuss the idea or concept, or to help explore a
number of ideas in the Faculty member’s field of study, which might be appropriate
for developing a cohort around.
Plan
After consultation the interested faculty member creates a written plan expressing the
ideas and proposal for addressing the ideas. This may be done with assistance from
students or others who may eventually become a part of the cohort. The general outline for
such a plan is:
Title
Brief
Abstract
(One paragraph suitable for the website expressing cohort vision, purpose, plans.)
Purpose/Vision/Need
Two-Three paragraph expression of the reason this cohort should be formed, what the area
of interest is why it is important, and an expression of the general nature of the issue
to be addressed.
Members
Name members of the cohort who have already begun work, or identify the "types"
of people who will be recruited for the cohort and their roles.
Scope
of Work
Explain the types of activities, meetings, etc. that the cohort will engage in.
Deliverables
Listing of the products that the cohort commits to creating for sharing. These will vary
in size, complexity and nature. We strongly encourage the production of a white paper as
the first product of all cohorts. The white paper should express the sense of the group
about the issue that has been selected. Please see appendix A for other examples of
possible products.
Timeline
Explicit start and end date. Create benchmarks or milestones toward the completion of the
plan and the deliverables that will be 'due' on those dates. It is important to include
approximate dates for important meetings including progress review meetings with the
faculty liaison.
Resources
This section should provide a list and justification for resources that the cohort would
need to achieve its goals. It is necessary to indicate which resources LearnGen would be
asked to provide and where others could be leveraged from other sources.
Institutionalization/Extension
A discussion of how the cohorts work and products would continue to make an impact on our
Teacher Education program past the actual life of the cohort. Explain how the School of
Education might adopt an initiative or how the initiative could be continued with no
support from LearnGen.
Evaluation
Explain how the cohort's products, project, and processes would be evaluated. It is
important for cohorts to examine not only what they do, but also how they do it.
Acceptance
The plan is submitted to Dr. Steven Smith the official faculty liaison who submits the
plan to the cohort review committee. This committee reviews plans, accepts them; negotiate
deliverables, time lines, deliverables, and LearnGen support. Upon acceptance of a plan
LearnGen then creates a cohort support package.
Execution/Production
Cohort members meet and work according to their plan, with the resources identified,
according to the timeline to produce the deliverables. As each product is completed a copy
of it is provided to LearnGen for archival purposes and for sharing on the Learning
Generation web site.
Assessment
Each cohort should assess its work according to the plan that they create. This assessment
is shared with the Cohort review committee and helps future cohorts with their development
and planning.
Appendix A
Examples of possible cohort
deliverables:
A
cohort might choose to undertake the development of a technology "product" or a
"process" that the faculty member will use in his/her current classes. This
might be a way for a faculty member who wants to better use/model technology in his/her
classes to get some very directed assistance in the learning of technology and the
development of teaching aides or materials. These would be sharable. One could imagine SOE
faculty working with CLAS faculty to co-produce such learning objects for use in both
faculty member's classes.
Integration activities that the
cohort could assist the faculty member in creating that would change the way the students
in the faculty member's classes are encouraged/expected to use technology in the
engagement of learning in that class. This would include changes to syllabi, descriptions
of assignments, lesson plans, and in best cases examples of expected/anticipated student
outcomes. All of these would be sharable. Examples: students engage in creating a website
explaining all of the historical references in the Billy Joel song, "We Didn't Start
the Fire”. Students might be engaged in creating a web-based portfolio. Students
could create a series of PowerPoint presentations that teach something. Students might use
HyperStudio to demonstrate mastery of a concept/process/task. Students could set up an
example class website that they might use in their teaching. Students might be engaged
each semester in helping to add to a list of children's literature titles and reviews.
Students creating a website "debating" a topic of educational interest/concern.
Students creating a website to be updated each semester that provides links to web
resources that would teach content… could be organized around standards in a content
area, or even Hirsch's Cultural Literacy work. Students could create an online poetry
site/contest/journal. The possibilities are endless.
Research based project that the
faculty member would design to specifically attempt to learn about some aspect of the use
of technology in teacher education. For example up very good online course supports and
measuring student satisfaction with them… in other words do effective online supports
make students do better in a class or at least have a better experience. Or, perhaps a
faculty member might like to study the use of technology in K-12 schools in a content area…
survey the bookmarks or history of actual classroom computers or proxy server logs to find
out what sites are really used in a school. The
research would be sharable, resulting in publication and/or conference presentations.
Service projects which have the
cohort creating a resource that is designed in cooperation with a K-12 teacher and
intended to be used in the K-12 classroom. In the best of worlds this type of cohort would
also produce research about the use of the resource. These could be TrackStar tracks for
use in certain content areas. Moving up a notch the cohort could produce a site that would
be targeted a providing information in a content area that schools want/need but that are
not available on the web. Part of this process might include extensive web searches,
creation of a sharable index of good sites in the area and then the production of a
website that fills a content void. An example in math might be links to biographies of
great women mathematicians and the production of biographies for notable mathematicians
for whom no web based information seems available. Other examples that get more ambitious
would be units of study that are web based like the KSGOV site or even online learning
modules aimed at home school environments or enrichment activities.
Academic projects like the start up of an online journal or the taking over of an online index in a
content area. The creation of an online textbook for use in teacher preparation programs,
production of online modules for use in teacher preparation programs, or the production of
specific learning objects of use to people wanting to create an online classes. All of
these would be shareable and significant. A cohort might do work to create a position
paper on how the KU teacher education program might be modified to bring it in closer
alignment with emerging standards or needs.
|
Privacy Policy