By Kelsey Kendall
In an increasingly digital world, it is important that the next generation is educated in computer science. This is the premise of the Commonwealth update Learning standardswhich come into force this next academic year. A former Dominion University project helps prepare not only students, but educators responsible for teaching these fundamental technological skills.
“This substantial change in educational policy must be translated into practice,” said Joanna Garner, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Center for Educational Partnerships. “We really wanted to strengthen the capacity of schools so that these teachers feel comfortable with the content.”
The advanced rural computer project (ARCS) is led by Dr Garner and an ODU team from the Center for Educational Partnerships. Over the past five years, it has served nearly 13,000 students and 222 teachers from dozens of school divisions across Virginia. The project funded by the American Ministry of Education aims to support the professional development of Kindergarten to K-5 teachers and help them learn to better integrate IT in main matters such as English and Mathematics. It works in partnership with Codeva, a non -profit organization that supports IT education for all students in Virginia and Virginia Department of Education. Independent research to measure the impact of the project was carried out by the professors of the University of Virginia.
The Center for Educational Partnerships (TCEP)Hosted within the Darden College of Education & Professional Studies, promotes the educator and the success of students by establishing partnerships that cover schools from kindergarten to 12th year, higher education and informal learning environments.
Garner said that educators participating in the project were guided to improve the basic lessons of materials with computer skills “wherever it is significant.” This could resemble the use of the plot and the event sequence to explain algorithms or learn to code a robot to sail in a labyrinth.
Arianna Trickey, Richmond Public School Technology Coach shared her comments after participating in the project, declaring that Carte had a positive impact on her ability to support other instructors on the best way to manage learning standards. The support she and others in her cohort have received – are developed to support their professional development, their access to resources to help teaching, chromebooks and networking with other educators on a Virginia level – helped her become more confident in this area of teaching.
“Thanks to arcs, I was able to create practical and practical learning experiences that offer students valuable 21st century skills,” said Trickey. “Each time I collaborate with teachers to develop or model a lesson integrated by IT, the level of engagement of students is remarkable.”
She described “one of the most memorable moments of this trip” as the moment when she witnessed a student with special needs who fought with academics light up during a coding lesson linked to a history. She said he had been very excited and was the first to finish the mission. The joy she saw in children has returned the importance of integrating computer science into the program.
Another element of the ArcS project was research-did the project make a difference for teachers and students involved? Teachers who participated in the ARCS project said they had greater confidence in the subject that had done “business as usual,” said Dr Garner. This self-efficacy is a great predictor in their success in class, and the results have shown that students in these classrooms of these teachers also performed well on a specially designed computer assessment.
Recently, the project obtained two programs that work on prizes – one for the impact of students and one for the impact of teachers – of the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition for its success to help teachers gain confidence in the integration of IT in courses.
Teachers were also able to take online courses and obtain digital badges or micro-credited. In Virginia, teachers must carry out professional development activities or other courses as part of the process to renew their license. Offered by ODU Global, these micro-credited help support the continuing education of teachers, and even if they had to bring their careers to other divisions or even to other states, said Dr Garner, they will have these skills to share and implement in their new communities.