Introduction-Amnah

This program is designed for elementary education teachers in curriculum and instruction who desire to learn more about differentiated learning approaches through self-directed learning. A workshop will be utilized to educate elementary education teachers in curriculum and instruction through the continuing education credit courses.  The workshop will all the students to collaborate with other students, based on their respective individual areas of study.  The research will include not only studies that students are able to research on their own through technology and literature, but will also include resources available to them such as usage of webcams and conference calls to collaborate with other students.  Additionally, trained program facilitators will be available to offer assistance and guidance to self-directed learners. The goals of the program are for elementary education teachers to be able to utilize technology to complete continuing education courses and to create a program that other educators can draw upon to complete their continuing education credits.

Purpose-Amnah

 Students will have opportunities to independently explore areas of interest related to curriculum and instruction.  The students will determine which aspect of Curriculum and Instruction they will research. Students will participate in research outside of a classroom, however, a trained course facilitator will be available to guide them and offer assistance if they need it.  The course facilitator will also be able to put them in contact with other students who are involved in the same self-directed learning course, so that they may professionally collaborate.  The course facilitator will provide a data base of resources and collaboration possibilities so that students are provided a full and complete learning experience to supplement their independent study on self-directed learning.

Objectives-Shawn

Technology is a useful tool in self-directed learning(SDL). Technology enables students from around the globe to coordinate projects and ideas in ways that were not possible in the past. SDL utilizes technology through the usage of internet, web cam videos, and conference calls or facetime. Each of these mediums allows the SDL student to remain independent to complete the tasks of the class and to work collaboratively with other SDL students in group projects.

The objective of this program will be to utilize technological mediums for elementary education Teachers (EET) to work collaboratively in the completion of a workshop. The EET will use the internet, webcams and conference calls to coordinate activities to complete the workshop. The workshop will include a project that will help the EET to use self-directed learning to complete continuing education requirements for their teaching certifications. The workshop is designed to educate EET about how technology and SDL can be used to help complete continuing education requirements.

The workshop will allow the EET to be able to complete their continuing education requirements when they graduate from the program. The usage of SDL for the workshop will allow students to work independently but still be able to collaborate via technology. The workshop will require the usage of group meetings on a weekly basis via webcam to coordinate project activities. After the meetings, each member will work independently via SDL to complete their piece of the project. The goal of this hybrid program is to allow educators to brainstorm and coordinate activities but to still allow the student to use SDL to complete tasks.

Because this is a pilot program, the EET will be helping to benchmark and error proof the system. Benchmarks for the workshop will include best practices for webcam collaboration, SDL prompting and project milestones to ensure the project is complete by the end of class. The EET will error proof the system by using the new software and finding weaknesses in the software and technology that can be fixed by our IT team.

The outcome for the workshop will be the ability of new teachers to utilize this new technology and SDL to complete continuing education credits. As part of adult learners being self-directed in the workshop, the usage of collaboration with other classmates will help students work through challenges and aid them in the completion of their own individual tasks.

Rationale Literature-LaKrisha

Self-directed learning can be more effective for graduate students when utilized appropriately.  Technology is increasingly coming to the forefront of adult education.  However, many adults have not learned, been taught, or trained in areas of technology to be successful to utilize technology in their educational journey.  According to Hiemstra (2003):

“The learning orientations of today's younger people tied to expectations of what the Web promises, and even the growing pervasiveness of virtual information in almost any location may actually make self-directed approaches to teaching and learning the default norm.”

Technological skills of students should be first assessed before attempting to incorporate technology in the SDL curriculum.  With a better understanding of the student’s abilities as they relate to technology, educators can be better prepared to meet the student’s needs.  Assessments, will at times, find the student is not prepared to enter into a SDL class utilizing technology as the source of delivering instruction.  “Students’ prior knowledge can dictate their readiness to learn new material” (Mello, 2016).

Not all students are prepared to enter into this type of learning environment.  Administrators must “assist the learner in becoming more self-aware and able to assess his or her skills, assets, and liabilities” (Bryan, 2015).  Steps should be taken to understand the knowledge and needs of the student before entering this learning environment.  Assessing individual students will determine their readiness for technology based SDL.  From the assessment results, some will find they are not quite ready to enter into the SDL technological learning environment.  Preparation for these students is the key to their success in the learning environment.  Students that find they are not quite ready for the environment should be allowed an opportunity to take an additional class or instructional session to prepare them for the technological requirements.  This additional step will prove to be beneficial not only for the student, but for the instructor as they will be able to deliver information with confidence in knowing the students are prepared to receive information with an understanding of how to utilize the delivered content.  As stated by Bryan (2015):

“When technology is infused into the curriculum, it can promote development of skills and attitudes for lifelong, self-directed learning.”

As individuals enter graduate school, it is often thought instructor guidance is not needed on the same level as undergraduate instruction.  This is correct, to certain limit.  Instructor guidance when determining the direction of which the instructor desires is essentially necessary.  Online videos, discussion boards, and the ability to collaborate with individuals are essential to the technological SDL environment. However, understanding the desired outcome of the instructor is also essential to the success of the individual student.

Purpose	Group 1 will create a program to aid teachers in using technology to create collaborative learning through a workshop for continuing education credit.
Objective	The objective of the program is to create a collaborative and self-directed learning platform to allow teachers to have interaction via technological resources to complete a workshop for continuing education credit
Rationale-Literature	Technology has created a medium that can all adult learners to work both independently and collaboratively. This program is designed to use technology to complete a workshop that will require collaborative learning through web-based technology.

Bibliography

Bryan, V. C. (2015). Self-Directed Learning and Technology. Education Digest, 80(6), 42-44.

Retrieved from http://proxy.bsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=100899083&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Hiemstra, R. (2003). More Than Three Decades of Self-Directed Learning: From Whence Have We Come?  Adult Learning, 14(4), 5-8.  

Mello, L. (2016). Fostering postgraduate student engagement: online resources 
             supporting self-directed learning in a diverse cohort. Research In Learning 
             Technology, 24. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v24.29366