UW TEI and College of Education Aim to Improve Quality of K

Teachers and school districts across the nation have spent the last several weeks preparing for the coming school year. While many schools will start in-person classes, others are preparing for online or hybrid delivery as a precaution during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

No matter what the future holds, two University of Wyoming College of Education faculty members are working to ensure that Wyoming’s teachers will be prepared to deliver quality online instruction, if the need arises.

Assistant Professor Mia Kim Williams and Assistant Professional Lecturer Joseph Schroer, both online teaching experts, are virtually presenting the K-12 Digital Teaching and Learning Workshop over the next few weeks to teachers across Wyoming at no cost to participants or their districts. One teacher from each of the 48 K-12 school districts in Wyoming has been invited to take part in the course that will take place via videoconferencing and other technologies over five intensive days.

“This year, educators will need to remain flexible to meet the needs of students. Teachers and students will need to be able to shift quickly from learning in a classroom to learning online,” says Laurel Ballard, supervisor of the Student and Teacher Resource Team at the Wyoming Department of Education. “The training that the University of Wyoming has developed provides the support Wyoming teachers need at a time when they need it most.”

One of the greatest strengths of the K-12 digital teaching and learning effort is the collaboration across education stakeholders to provide support when it was needed. The project has been coordinated and facilitated by the UW Trustees Education Initiative (TEI), which uses established relationships across the state to align the various partners and to help ensure the professional experience aligned with the unique needs and challenges of Wyoming’s K-12 education system.

“TEI teamed up with College of Education faculty members, the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning (ECTL), the Wyoming Department of Education and our partner K-12 school districts to get this professional development to our state’s educators,” says Leslie Rush, UW College of Education interim dean and TEI executive director. “We want to acknowledge and back up our Wyoming educators during this challenging time, and we will continue to support their professional growth.”

Williams says K-12 school districts are making tough decisions about how to best meet the learning needs of students as the school year begins. The workshop is intended to support their process by exploring some best practices for online teaching and learning, and by providing a forum for collaboration and support across the districts.

“K-12 teachers have many complex decisions to make because they have assessments and accountability at one end, and they are working with children at the other end,” Schroer says. “The greatest challenge that we are reflecting upon is the support and adaptation of digital learning experiences for the K-3 early childhood environment. There are some important developmental considerations for teachers in this age group that need to be addressed, or we risk demotivating children and families attempting online learning.”

The ECTL provides research-based programs, services and resources to UW faculty members to support the continued development of high-quality teaching and learning experiences for university students.

Williams and Schroer have worked to customize “Digital Teaching and Learning,” a course previously developed by the ECTL for college-level teaching, to apply to current best practices in K-12 education.

The two will demonstrate innovative technologies that can be used to assist and enhance online learning, and they will share strategies to design online experiences that are rich and engaging for all students. Participants will focus on developing their online teaching presence and learning strategies to motivate students in the online environment.

During the workshop, each teacher will work with the UW faculty members to develop a lesson plan that is designed to be delivered online. Williams and Schroer will assist each participant in identifying and creating priority learning objectives; designing activities that effectively use media and other digital tools to support learning; and creating high-quality assessments to measure student learning.

Participants will bring a complete online lesson plan back to their home districts, and they will be empowered to share what they learned with their peers. At the end of the workshop, the teachers will develop an action plan to share their knowledge in their districts. Williams and Schroer will provide continued support to participants throughout the school year as they implement and lead their own workshops with their colleagues.

Those interested in further developing their online teaching abilities can explore the 12-credit-hour Online Instruction Certificate Program offered by the UW College of Education. Additionally, the college also offers master’s and doctoral degrees in learning, design and technology, and curriculum and instruction for those who find a deep passion for exploring the systems and approaches that enhance learning.

For more information, call the UW College of Education at (307) 766-3145 or visit www.uwyo.edu/education.