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Effective Online Learning Communities eMINTS: enhancing Missouri’s Instructional Networked Teaching Strategies. Overview of eMINTS i3 Grant. Studying impact of eMINTS professional development and technologies on 7 th and 8 th grade teachers and their students in small rural Missouri districts
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Effective Online Learning Communities eMINTS: enhancing Missouri’s InstructionalNetworked Teaching Strategies
Overview of eMINTS i3 Grant • Studying impact of eMINTS professional development and technologies on 7th and 8th grade teachers and their students in small rural Missouri districts • RCT study with three groups of schools: • Group 1 (30 schools) get eMINTS technology and intensive 2-year professional development • Group 2 (30 schools) get eMINTS and intensive 2-year professional development plusa third year of PD using Intel Teach® Elements courses • Group 3 (30 schools) wait until Group 1 and 2 are finished but provides data for comparison • Schools in all 3 groups get eMINTS technology and professional development
School Assignments Randomly assigned schools
eMINTS Equipment • Hardware includes • Teacher laptop with docking station • SMART Board and projector • 1 laptop for every student in 7th and 8th grade • Laptop charging carts • Printer and digital camera • Software and learning resources • Productivity software • Concept-mapping software • BrainPOP! online animated content
Comprehensive eMINTS includes: Year 1 - 100 hours + 4 full days + 9 classroom visits Year 2 - 75 hours + 2 full days + 9 classroom visits New Year 3 - 12 hours (f2f) + 30 hours (online) + 3-4 classroom visits Creates communities of practice to model and facilitate communities of learners in classrooms Other eMINTS professional development programs include: eMINTS4Administrators, eMINTS4Techs, train-the-trainer, and eLearning for Educators (short online courses) eMINTS Professional Development
eMINTS Communication Needs • eMINTS Staff – distributed around Missouri • Sharing of information across organization • Accessing materials and resources • Collaboration among staff on various tasks • Program participants – distributed around Missouri, nationally and internationally • Accessing materials and resources • Attending training webinars • Communicating with cohort group
Lessons Learned • Strongest online communities are formed when participants have some face-to-face interaction in addition to online • Community needs to be facilitated • Community needs to be continually refreshed with new information and resources • Strongest online communities have a clear shared purpose and timeframe for participation
eMINTS National Center www.emints.org Monica Beglau Lorie Kaplan (573) 884-7202 325 Clark Hall Columbia, MO 65211 emints-info@emints.org Experience Unlimited Possibilities for Learning