Catie: A Blended Approach to Situated Professional Development

Abstract

The Capital Area Technology and Inquiry in Education program (CATIE) is a content-focused, inquiry-based professional development program developed by the Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE) to assist K-6 teachers in the technology integration process. To address concerns of sustainability and cost-effectiveness, this situated model combined online and face-to-face professional development approaches to encourage thought-provoking experiences that inspire new pedagogies. CATIE united efforts with the Online Learning Forum (OLF) to offer blended mentoring experiences situated in and around the classroom context with a special focus on mathematics instruction. CATIE, formerly a high-resource model, transitioned into a multi-dimensional experience in an effort to sustain technology-rich learning communities and provide quality professional development resources for classroom instruction. This article explores the dimensions of CATIE, the transition to a blended model, and the contributions of this situated model to technology integration professional development.

Designing effective professional development for technology integration in schools

“…Teachers' beliefs and negative attitudes are frequently reported as significant obstacles to the integration of technology into teaching and learning (Ertmer & Ottenbreit‐Leftwich, ; Ertmer, Ottenbreit‐Leftwich, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, ). Blended PD models have been found to help teachers develop a positive effect toward, and beliefs about technology integration (Holmes et al, ). Therefore, the model we recommend includes a well‐organized blended PD system that combines the advantages of face‐to‐face and online components to promote teachers' connectedness while allowing timing and location flexibility.…”

“…Different platforms of rich dialogues are likely to bring new ideas and suggestions for teachers' classroom-based activities. Moreover, blended PD models tend to be more cost-effective than face-toface-only models (Dede et al, 2016;Owston et al, 2008) and offer teachers and schools more independence (Holmes, Polhemus, & Jennings, 2005). Teachers' beliefs and negative attitudes are frequently reported as significant obstacles to the integration of technology into teaching and learning (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010;Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, 2012).…”

“…Blended PD models have been found to help teachers develop a positive effect toward, and beliefs about technology integration (Holmes et al, 2005). Therefore, the model we recommend includes a wellorganized blended PD system that combines the advantages of faceto-face and online components to promote teachers' connectedness while allowing timing and location flexibility.…”

Supporting Science Teachers’ Learner-Centered Technology Integration through Situated Mentoring

“…Situated learning, which involves both active individual construction of knowledge and enculturation into a larger community (Cobb, 1994;Lave & Wenger, 1991), directly applies to how teachers learn to use technology with their classes. Situated professional development involving a mentor or technology coach has been shown as an effective way to help teachers learn to integrate technology (Holmes, Polhemus, & Jennings, 2005;Kopcha, 2012;Sugar, 2005). Preservice teachers are frequently assigned to a mentor teacher during student teaching programs, and this arrangement helps new teachers integrate technology where the mentor teacher is experienced with technology instruction (Bell, Maeng, & Binns, 2013;Grove, Strudler, & Odell, 2004;Ward, West, & Isaak, 2002).…”

Factors that influence clinical placements for teacher candidates

“…• create an evaluation and accountability system to inform continuous program improvement (Holmes, Polhemus, & Jennings, 2005;Leonard, Lovelace-Taylor, Sanford-Deshields, & Spearman, 2004) Because teacher training is a large industry characterized by great variation, the purpose of this study will focus on a traditional teacher preparation programs and clinical experiences.…”