Integrating the United Nations' sustainable development goals into virtual exchange

This chapter focuses on how to integrate synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC)-based virtual exchanges into coursework in teacher preparation programs in higher education. During their 6-week virtual exchange, participants met with partner(s) to discuss their ideas about the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to recording their SCMC sessions, participants also completed online worksheets to reflect on their SDG discussion. By focusing on creating activities that coincide with the United Nations' SDGs in a virtual exchange, results showed that participants raised their awareness about the SDGs and created a critically sensitive critical lens, which impacted their learning. In addition to developing content knowledge, these programs were able to internationalize the higher education curriculum through virtual exchange. Students were able to discover things about themselves, their partners, their coursework, and the SDGs with "new eyes." With the recent rush to digital transformation caused by COVID-19, synchronous virtual exchange programs appear to be even more valuable as collaborative learning models. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Examining Field Experiences of Teacher Candidates During COVID-19: Systemic Inequities Unveiled for Underserved English Learners in K-12 Grades.

The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 challenged schools and credential programs to adjust pedagogy, but rapid changes impeded equitable practices to K-12 grade English Learners (ELs). The framework stems from critical multicultural education. Data represented 81 credential candidates across three universities. Study confirmed that ELs lacked access to online learning, active engagement with peers/teachers, and differentiated instruction due to rapid changes and uncertainties to their programs.

El Impacto de COVID-19 retó a las escuelas y programas certificados a ajustar su pedagogía, pero cambios rápidos impidieron prácticas egalitarias para estudiantes de inglés (ELs siglas en inglés) en K-12. El marco de referencia se originó en la educación multicultural crítica. La información representó 81 candidatos de credencial a través de tres universidades. El estudio confirmó que ELs no tenían acceso al aprendizaje en línea, al compromiso activo de compañeros/maestros, y a la educación diferenciada debido a los cambios rápidos y la incertidumbre de sus programas.

Teacher Perceptions of Self-Efficacy in Teaching Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic

To examine the effects of the sudden shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020, we sought to get a firsthand understanding of the experiences of teachers who were required to make the change to full online teaching. Teaching online requires technological knowledge, but it also requires a different pedagogy in order to keep students engaged and motivated to learn. Many educators indicated that this was a significant challenge. Our goal was to illuminate teachers' experiences in order to include their voices in changes to educator preparation programs. A total of 699 complete survey responses were received representing educators in several grade levels working in nine states in the United States. Qualitative analysis revealed that many responses were related to extant research on teachers' self-efficacy. Thus, this paper will shed light on the experiences of educators during the first semester of 2020 including the months of January through April, and teachers' perceived efficacy. We find that teachers felt more efficacious regarding aspects of online teaching over which they felt an internal locus of control, such as delivery of curriculum and their own skill in the use of technology. For items over which they had less control, such as parental support and involvement, student motivation, and student access to adequate technology, teachers indicated much less efficacy. The majority of responses paint a complicated and somewhat dismal picture of the loss of personal connection with their students. Based on these data, recommendations for both education preparation programs, and policy are discussed such as districts and schools must provide sufficient professional learning opportunities and create a culture of collaboration amongst teachers that can assist them in building internal school capacity for good online instruction for their students. The COVID-19 pandemic should be used as an opportunity to evaluate gaps in digital equity and make positive strides to ensure all students, regardless of race, disability, economic background, or geographic location, have full access to quality online education. © 2023, Athens Institute for Education and Research. All rights reserved.

The impact of metacognition and design thinking on creative problem-solving in a teacher preparation course

Pre-service teachers' problem-solving ability has been found to be limited by ineffective practices, level of domain knowledge, and low metacognitive awareness (Hogan & Rabinowitz, 2009). Yet, improvements are observed when they are trained on different aspects of problem solving and when they learn to apply design thinking (Henriksen & Richardson, 2017;Choi & Lee, 2009). This study adapted a creative problem-solving intervention in a teacher preparation course and trained students on the use of design thinking, creativity, and metacognitive strategies to solve a real-life, ill-defined, domain-specific problem. Using a two-group quasi-experimental design, the study examined the effects of the intervention on domain-general and domainspecific creative problem solving and self-reported metacognitive awareness. Students (N = 72) from three sections of an undergraduate Educational Psychology course were assigned to two conditions (experimental and control). The experimental group was exposed to a seven-week creative problem-solving intervention, while the control group completed seven problem-solving cases. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, various modifications had to be made to the intervention program, especially to some of the design thinking practices and the delivery mode. For instance, the training modules were delivered online (asynchronously) which participants completed individually. Similarly, participants worked individually on the domain-specific problem. Design thinking practices such as empathizing, prototyping and testing were modified which might have impacted participants' performance.Between-group ANCOVAs were used to investigate the effects of the intervention on domain-general and domain-specific creative problem-solving and on metacognitive awareness.A MANOVA was conducted to explore the intervention effects on two components of domainspecific creative problem solving: originality and appropriateness. Multiple regressions were conducted to examine predictors of domain-specific creative problem solving. Findings showed mixed effects on divergent thinking, showing that those in the treatment group had higher scores on originality, but no significant differences were found on fluency and convergent thinking. Likewise, no significant differences were found in originality and appropriateness in domainspecific problem solving. Significant differences were detected in metacognitive awareness, favoring those in the experimental group. In addition, agreeableness positively predicted both originality and appropriateness in domain-specific creative problem solving;while GPA was a positive predictor of originality, and domain knowledge positively predicted appropriateness.Results suggest that the intervention had a positive effect on divergent thinking, specifically on originality but not on fluency and convergent thinking. Furthermore, the training led to significant changes in self-reported metacognitive awareness, but it did not have an effect on domain-specific creative problem solving. In terms of personality, higher agreeableness was associated with domain-specific problem solving. Similarly, a higher level of academic achievement supports the generation of more original ideas, while having more domain knowledge supports the production of more appropriate ideas. Implications for this research suggest that even if design thinking is learned individually and online, it is still effective in developing creativity. Nonetheless, future studies should consider the complexity of the domainspecific problem, participants' domain knowledge level, more comprehensive adaptations of design thinking, and possibly the inclusion of task-specific strategies or transfer training in their interventions. The role of agreeableness in domain-specific problem solving should be further investigated as well. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Experiences of teacher educators utilizing technology in teacher preparation programs

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore how and to what extent teacher educators evaluate, align, and demonstrate technology within teacher preparation programs. The literature revealed the need for teacher educators to follow frameworks, taxonomies, and standards containing technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge utilized appropriately within various contexts. In addition, teacher preparation program leadership can provide relevant and purposively professional learning as well as the support needed for teacher educators when the TPP leadership possesses a basic understanding of adult learning. Using Teacher Educator Technology Competency #1, ten teacher educators were interviewed regarding their experiences utilizing technology within their teacher preparation program. The findings revealed teacher educators, whose technological knowledge, skills, and attitudes varied, utilized a variety of paths in the evaluation, alignment, and demonstration of technology. When their knowledge and skills were put to the test during the COVID-19 pandemic, most teacher educators transitioned smoothly to the various formats required by the pandemic and have also seen the "blessings in disguise" from this global challenge. Leadership varies among the institutions represented in the study, particularly in the area of technology integration. Many teacher educators have stepped up to the plate and provided the needed leadership in technology integration. This study has implications for policy and practice in the realms of teacher educator technology competencies, technology infusion throughout teacher preparation programs, professional learning, and leadership. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Teacher policy frames, enactment forms and issues

The article deals with teachers and teacher education from the perspective of broad policy frames, of how these frames are enacted in specific policies, including teacher career systems as well as pre-service and continuing teacher education, and how they appear in a diversity of international contexts. New Public Management and Accountability teacher policies are critically discussed in the light of their contemporary prevalence, using recent relevant research. Social justice and inclusion as a broad policy frame is examined in the light of immediate challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant people, as well as by the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Perceptions of K-12 educators' preparation for online instruction before and during a global pandemic

This qualitative case study looked at teacher technology readiness before the 2020 pandemic. The researcher used snowballing to gather participants in an online survey involving teachers and administrators who experienced the move to online instruction in March 2020. The survey asked respondents about their technology training, online experiences, and collaborative efforts while instructing online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The key findings were that the participant teachers identified having little or no technology training during their teacher training, and most were not prepared for the move to online instruction. They included comments that lack of training on online pedagogy, apps, software, and hardware hindered their instruction. Additionally, the study found that most participants did not use collaborative efforts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Narrative inquiry for CALL teacher preparation programs amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: language teachers' technological needs and suggestions

Drawing on qualitative research, this study explores the Iranian EFL teachers' technological needs and their suggestions for using computer-assisted language learning (CALL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed the narratives produced by 66 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers for their themes through deductive and inductive thematic analysis phases using MAXQDA. The findings indicate that CALL teacher preparation programs should prioritize technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), then technological content knowledge (TCK), and finally technological knowledge (TK). Moreover, teachers stated that CALL teacher preparation programs should develop their knowledge concerning the intersections of TCK/TPK and TPK/TK. Furthermore, Iranian EFL teachers suggested that CALL can be used during the pandemic if cooperation among teachers, students, and parents will be made, technological-related infrastructures will be developed, and teacher preparation programs will develop EFL teachers' collaboration, digital literacy, teacher autonomy, and TPK with special attention to the educational needs made by the pandemic situation. The findings have implications for teacher educators, professional development course designers and providers, and decision-makers by highlighting promising directions to devote their precious time and resources. © 2022, The Author(s).

Learning and Adaptation During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Colleges of Education as Hubs for Leadership and Innovation

The Covid-19 pandemic greatly disrupted educational systems around the world. Gi-ven their extensive stakeholder network, Schools and Colleges of Education played an important role in providing leadership across all dimensions of education throug-hout the pandemic. This paper presents results from an interview-based study of Deans of Schools of Education in the United States with a special focus on how they sought to address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the pan-demic. Results show that while there was a great deal of variability in the responses of Deans and Schools of Education many promising practices emerged that are po-tentially scalable and shareable to other institutions.

Learning and Adaptation During the Covid-19 Pandemic: Colleges of Education as Hubs for Leadership and Innovation

The Covid-19 pandemic greatly disrupted educational systems around the world. Gi-ven their extensive stakeholder network, Schools and Colleges of Education played an important role in providing leadership across all dimensions of education throughout the pandemic. This paper presents results from an interview-based study of Deans of Schools of Education in the United States with a special focus on how they sought to address issues of diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the pan-demic. Results show that while there was a great deal of variability in the responses of Deans and Schools of Education many promising practices emerged that are po-tentially scalable and shareable to other institutions.

From Little Seeds Grow Mighty Trees: Transforming Teacher Preparation Literacy Methods' Courses during the 2020 Pandemic

This article describes how three higher education literacy faculty shifted their traditional face-to-face instruction to a combined synchronous and asynchronous delivery in response to the Covid-19 Pandemic and subsequent closure of the university. Faculty share specific lessons that were learned over the first year of the pandemic, and how these lessons guided the redesign and delivery of assignments and activities for required literacy courses in the early childhood and elementary teacher preparation programs. Faculty recognized the great need for resources, both external and internal, in order for them to grow and mature as they entered into the virtual teaching environment. © 2023 College Reading and Learning Association.

Faculty Perceptions of Virtual Field Experience Placement in a Teacher Preparation Program in the Uae

Aim/Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine faculty perceptions of virtual field placement of preservice teachers at a university in the United Arab Emirates and to explore the factors that promote or hinder the success of this experience. Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding was used as the theoretical framework of this study and to explain the faculty's engagement with the field placement experience.Background The global pandemic of COVID-19 has affected the provision of teacher education programs around the world. It forced many universities to implement emergency remote teaching strategies including virtual field experiences.Methodology Considering the novelty of this phenomenon, an exploratory qualitative research design was followed to arrive at an in-depth description of the faculty's perceptions. A convenience sampling, which is characterized by the deliberate targeting of information-rich participants, was used to select five faculty members who supervised 40 Emirati preservice teachers during their virtual field experience. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Contribution The framework put forth in this study could serve as a guideline for teacher education programs, especially field experience preparation. Findings It was found that faculty had different perceptions of virtual field experiences. Although preservice teachers were faced with unprecedented virtual field experiences, collaboration with different stakeholders helped them achieve the learning outcomes. A main drawback of the virtual field experience, however, impacted preservice Emirati teachers' motivation about online teaching. Recommendations for PractitionersRecommendations for Researchers Preservice teachers' technological skills should be reinforced and built to enable purposeful and practical technological integration in the teaching and learning process. Therefore, a holistic inclusion of all stakeholders' approach is needed to upskill and develop the competencies of all parties involved in the process taking into consideration a more enriching collaborative manner. Such a redesign should be examined to assess its validity and efficiency on a wider and more diverse sample to ensure its reliability and success. Researchers are recommended to explore the impact of virtual field experience on young children learning and engagement by including all stakeholders involved in the teaching and learning process, especially young students' parents since findings showed that children under the age of eight are at a disadvantage in online learning.Impact on Society Implications of the findings of this study show that sustainable virtual field experiences can be attained through a collaborative approach. Collaboration is essential as it enables preservice teachers to succeed in implementing inclusive pedagogical approaches.Future Research Further studies can enrich the findings of this paper by expanding the collected data to provide deeper and more generalizable results. For example, virtual student teachers' and school students' scores should be collected and compared to face-to-face scores in order to assess and evaluate the learning itself.

"Everything that's hard got harder”: Preservice teachers' attempts at rigorous and responsive instruction during online pedagogical rehearsals in the Covid pandemic

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our teacher preparation program shifted to an online setting, disrupting a key feature of practice-based teacher preparation: Preservice science teachers' (PSTs) approximation of rigorous and responsive instruction during extended pedagogical rehearsals called macroteaching. Given this unplanned shock to their preparation, we examined how PSTs viewed macroteaching and their evolving participation in the teaching rehearsal. Using a situative perspective, we collected multiple forms of data. We found that while PSTs wanted to enact rigorous and responsive instruction, their participation was deeply impacted by the sudden shift to an online setting. Our analysis of video-recorded lessons confirmed PSTs' observations that their instruction became less rigorous and responsive over time. We conclude with questions about teacher preparation during the pandemic. © ISLS.

Covid-19 and Learners with Disabilities: Towards Divergent Praxis in Teacher Preparation for Equity and Epistemic Justice

Emergence of COVID-19 further exposed educational inequalities and epistemic injustices experienced by learners with disabilities (LwDs). COVID-19 presents additional challenges for teachers and LwDs whose life and active learning engagements depends largely on social interaction. While the lockdown persisted, teachers of LwDs became anxious about potential relapse of previously gained learning outcomes and aggravated disabling condition. Unfortunately, there seem to be less teachers' capacities to continually foster learning among their LwDs during the lockdown because there exist low teachers' morale and pedagogical gaps for digital teaching. Based on current realities, it is evident that there is need for a paradigm shift in teacher preparation and training towards equity and epistemic justice for LwDs. Hence, this intellectual piece advanced the need to modify the existing teacher education curriculum to extensively build on teachers' morale while it consciously infuses technological pedagogies in preparation programmes of teachers of LwDs in Africa.

Blended to Remote Learning : Preservice Teacher Experiences of a Redesigned Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Course

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic presented many higher education institutions with a sudden challenge to shift from either face-to-face and/or blended instruction to remote teaching in order to save the academic year. This article examines preservice teachers’ experiences of a redesigned blended-learning year course on work-integrated learning (WIL). The article uses the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework within a blended-learning environment to examine the responses of 414 preservice teachers in their first year of study to a survey completed at the end of the course. Descriptive statistics were used together with course content analysis to generate the findings, which suggested that the majority (above 80%) of the preservice teachers remained active during the shift to remote teaching, and about 93.3% responded positively to the course redesign by actively accessing the course on the online platform at least once a week. The survey results also showed that only 10.4% of the preservice teachers did not experience one or another form of challenge in learning through remote teaching during this time. The results build a case for how other practitioners and instructional designers could redesign courses with the consideration of context and learning challenges. The article concludes with the argument for the design of blended courses for future needs to focus more closely on each aspect of the mode of delivery so as to ensure effective design that can withstand emergency situations, such as those we have seen during COVID-19.

Navigating Necessary Change : Leadership through Technology Transformation

School districts and universities around the nation were forced to increase use of technology to meet the educational needs of their students and community with the onset of COVID-19. With varying levels of expertise and resources in using technology as an educational tool, many districts and teachers struggled through this transition. This article explores the success of a midwestern urban school district in the United States and the cooperative engagement with a neighboring small public university. The school district capitalized on the leadership of a courageous administrator’s gift in building efficacious collaborative cultures in a K–12 setting and created a successful program implemented through the 2020–2021 academic year. Keeping the e-learning in-house resulted in substantial savings. When teacher candidates from the neighboring small public university began student teaching in the district’s Virtual Academy, the university’s education faculty quickly realized that a stronger partnership with the district could help faculty better prepare teacher candidates to meet the changing educational technology fluency needs. The district’s academic success and the university’s theoretical knowledge provided opportunities for discussion and training. The education faculty collaborated with field practitioners to better understand the needs of this new “normal.” As a result, some university education faculty gained more technical knowledge and embedded Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPACK) and the (S) Substitution, (A) Augmentation, (M) Modification, and (R) Redefinition (SAMR) model recommendations within courses. From this, pivotal shifts grew using the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), SAMR, and TPACK foundations in the Education Preparation Programs (EPPs).

Perceptions of novice teachers' TPACK gained from teacher preparation programs: A mixed methods research study

Novice teachers are faced with challenges when starting a new career, including using knowledge they have gained during their teacher preparation program to put effective instructional strategies into practice. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the perceptions of self-efficacy for novice teachers on their competencies related to the TPACK framework and further connect these metrics to the reflection of their teacher preparation program. Participants were invited to participate in a quantitative survey and volunteer for interviews to further explore the perceptions of their self-efficacy on concepts related to pedagogical and technological knowledge. Related literature showed that teachers often rate their technological competencies lower in other studies conducted with the TPACK framework, but in this study novice teachers rated their technological knowledge competencies higher, when compared to pedagogical and technological pedagogical competencies. Interviews revealed various perspectives about the alignment of content learned in preservice programs and the knowledge needed and applied by novice teachers. Novice teachers who rated themselves highest with TPACK competencies could articulate a clear and positive alignment between their preservice experience and their in-service work. This work can be used by teacher preparation program, who use the CAEP standards for reflection in their accreditation processes. Further research is recommended on how the COVID-19 pandemic's remote learning mandate changed the perceptions and expectations of technological knowledge and whether this makes an impact on how teacher preparation programs align their curricula. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)

Navigating Mathematics Teacher Preparation During A Time of Crisis

In this paper we highlight the experience of a mathematics teacher educator (MTE) and their preservice teachers (PTs) in a middle school mathematics methods course during the 2020 shift to online instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe it is valuable to report how the MTE reflected on their instructional decision-making in response to this massive transition to remote instruction. We also report that PTs needed support and guidance to employ new teaching practices they had learned in the methods course instead of reverting to familiar teaching methods.

Elements for Academic Leadership in a Virtual Space

Higher education is facing the need for its leaders to adapt to an ever-increasingly virtual landscape. More than ever before, this became evident during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020. Previously-utilized leadership strategies proved less than effective tools for managing virtual faculty teams, and new, creative methods of leading people working remotely across wide geographical areas were launched almost overnight. Some worked;some did not. The purpose of this work is to explore the best practices for academic leaders to mentor, motivate, and guide their teams in virtual environments. The themes of creating a culture of trust, team-building and collaboration, and communication emerged in the literature as traits of effective leaders. Here, we apply those traits to personal experiences between March 2020 and May 2021 to propose a model for leadership in a virtual space. © 2021 The Author/s

The collective perceptions of K-12 special education teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic

In the spring of 2020, nearly every school aged student and K-12 teacher across the United States was forced to participate in remote educational activities online, prompting an unexpected departure from the status quo in public education. This was a result of government mandated social distancing practices, as a mitigation strategy for combating the global pandemic induced by the novel coronavirus. Most school districts were compelled to repurpose their daily practices by rapidly planning to ascertain resources for the implementation of an emergency remote education initiative. These unprecedented events presented many challenges for educators, especially given most had no formal training for conducting online instructional delivery utilizing various technologies. Special education teachers in particular confronted a unique set of challenges when considering how to support the complex needs of diverse learners. This included student support for engagement with access to technology, knowledge of various applied technological pedagogical skills, teacher preparation, technical training, ongoing professional support, interactions with stakeholders, and individual social emotional well-being. The purpose of this study was to determine how special education teachers perceived various aspects of their experiences, when teaching remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was designed to measure these perceptions containing aligned items to the domains of the technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework. The COVID-19 Special Education Teacher Survey (C-SETS) was a 42 item questionnaire set on a 5-point Likert scale that contained an additional open-ended question. It was administered online and completed by 280 participants, across 46 states, primarily via a social media platform. While the results demonstrated that special education teachers overall were technically skilled, had increased communication with parents/caregivers, and gained skills for future practices, there was a significantly insufficient level of preparation, a deficit with various pedagogical skills using technology, less collaboration with IEP team members, inconsistent student engagement, varying access to technology, a lack of technical training, ongoing professional development and support, contributing to social emotional stress, anxiety and fatigue. Aspects of these findings were particularly evident in historically under resourced districts and those that did not participate in technology infrastructure initiatives, where an overwhelming majority of the statistically significant differences, with the exception of respondents' level of educational attainment, were attributed to school characteristics. Implications for future teacher preparation, technical training, ongoing professional development, and best practices are presented. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)