One of the more demanding tasks faced by teacher educators and mentors is providing high-quality feedback for preservice students during their professional learning. The limited formative assessment currently available impacts on their professional learning. This paper reports on research into how iPhones® have been used by preservice students,…

The purpose of this study was to describe how and why novice mathematics teachers incorporated technology-generated representations in their instruction. The participants in the study were graduates of a technology-rich mathematics teacher educator program. The teachers were interviewed at the beginning and end of the study concerning their…

TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) has quickly become popular amongst researchers and practitioners as a framework for understanding necessary teacher knowledge for supporting effective technology integration. Utilization of TPACK, however, has generally been approached in a manner that is non-critical and that does not inform…

The cohort approach, which has gained popularity with graduate level programs in the United States, presented the researchers with the unique opportunity to use a year-long Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) approach to study a cohort of 19 in-service teachers and their own perception of their technology integration knowledge, skills, and…

This study explores teachers' response to a professional development program called Case Studies of Reading Lessons (CSRL) that uses case studies of reading instruction to provide opportunities for elementary teachers to learn to analyze features that affect the quality of reading lessons. One important question is whether analyzing…

This paper describes the Adolescent Community of Engagement (ACE) framework as a lens to guide research and design in adolescent online learning environments. Several online learning frameworks have emerged from higher education contexts, but these frameworks do not explicitly address the unique student and environmental characteristics of the…

While teachers in cyber charter schools play the important role of supporting students, many of these schools also rely heavily on the parents or guardians of students to act as co-educators. Teachers are no longer the sole providers of instruction. However, little is known about the roles of parents or guardians, referred to as learning coaches,…

Blended learning environments that merge learning strategies, resources, and modes have been implemented in higher education settings for nearly two decades, and research has identified many positive effects. More recently, K-12 traditional and charter schools have begun to experiment with blended learning, but to date, research on the effects of…

As the number of K-12 students participating in various forms of online learning steadily rises, teacher quality is of paramount concern. This article explores the theoretical underpinnings surrounding quality teaching in online settings as well as practical considerations for what teachers should know and be able to do in online environments.…

Several online programs use on-site facilitators to create a stronger sense of community and reduce student dropout. However, very little research addresses how programs that are fully online can provide their students with comparable support. Using K-12 online research, this case study analyzed a "shepherding program" at Mountain…

This study examined the development of Technological Pedagogical And Content Knowledge (TPACK) in mathematics and science of pre-service special education teachers via one course. The course focused on the three domains of knowledge related specifically to integrating instructional technology into mathematics and science teaching and learning…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the "simSchool" (v.1) simulation as a tool for preparing student teachers for actual classroom teaching. Twenty-two student teachers used the simulation for a practice session and two test sessions; data included objective performance statistics generated by the simulation program, self-rated…

With the rise in popularity of microblogging, we must consider whether such social networking can be harnessed to bring benefits and outcomes to the professional development of teachers. Recent research shows us that Twitter is becoming more and more popular in classrooms, and has documented benefits in educational outcomes. This paper discusses…

The overarching question that guides this review is to identify the key components of effective teacher training in virtual schooling, with a focus on three-dimensional (3D) immersive virtual worlds (IVWs). The process of identifying the essential components of effective teacher training in the use of 3D IVWs will be described step-by-step. First,…

Given the importance of technology in today's society, many teacher professional development (TPD) efforts incorporate instructional technologies. Following TPD, little is known about how to adequately support teachers in the use of these instructional technologies. Supporting teachers in geographically distant schools is particularly…