Reflection (part 3)

Opportunities & challenges of flexibility and the implications for instructors

Flexibility in the lesson plan for the teacher
The teacher is flexible in the way he/she uses the lesson plan. It’s possible to exactly follow each step in the lesson plan, but the teacher can also decide to rewrite the lesson plan so that it fits better with the teacher’s or the learners’ preferences.

Even if the teacher decides to exactly follow each step in the lesson plan, there are some parts in which the teacher needs to make decisions. For example it is up to the teacher what kind of video is shown at the beginning of the lesson. On the recommended website the teacher can choose between videos of the tsunami hitting the coast in Asia and simulations about how tsunamis work. It is up to the teacher to decide what fits best with the class.

Another example is the contact via email that is proposed in the lesson plan. The teacher can decide whether questions via email are answered at any time they come in, or only during the teacher’s working hours at school.

The possibility of using the lesson plan flexibly makes it possible for the teacher to change parts he/she does not feel comfortable with (e.g. using BlackBoard to provide learners with feedback) and on the same time it can stimulate teachers to try things that are proposed in the lesson plan and that are new to them. I think it is stimulating because teachers are guided by the lesson plan in how and when to use certain technologies.

Flexibility in the lesson plan for the learners
The designed lesson plan offers several possibilities for flexible learning to the learners. The inquiry learning approach stimulates that; learners are allowed to investigate their own research questions, using the internet sources they prefer. There is time during the lesson to search for information on the internet, but learners are free to further explore the topic of their choice at any moment and at any place they like after the lesson.

There are some restrictions to that flexibility though. For example the teacher monitors if the research questions learners investigate are serious and realistic to investigate. Besides that the teacher also monitors the internet sources learners are using. Those sources need to be of good quality.

Learners do not have much flexibility when it comes to deadlines and to the way they have to report the results of their investigation. The teacher could decide to make the deadlines more flexible, but the lesson plan prescribes hard deadlines, because otherwise it is difficult to plan the next lesson. If learners have a lot of experience with using PowerPoint for presentations and they have knowledge about how research results should be presented, the teacher could decide to be more flexible in the way learners present their results. For example the teacher could offer the framework for the PPT-presentation, but not make it obligated to use that framework.

Flexibility in instructor support
The detailed time schedule for the designed lesson plan is meant to support the instructor. As mentioned before the teacher can flexibly implement the lesson plan as preferred though. But that is not the only way in which the offered instructor support is flexible. Below the flexibility of each aspect of the offered instructor support is discussed.

Participation in a 4-hours workshop is obligated. Teachers have to attend the workshop at a time and place that is agreed upon by the trainer and someone from the school management. Therefore this part of the instructor support is not flexible at all.

After the workshop it is optional for teachers to contact the trainer (coach) with questions whenever they want and via several ways (email, Skype, phone or face-to-face visit). Therefore this part of the support is very flexible.

Besides the coaching possibility participating teachers are stimulated, but not obligated, to participate in collaborative learning activities. There are two options offered for collaborative learning: learning from and with teachers from their own school (face-to-face and via a BlackBoard environment) and learning from and with teachers from other schools (through online communities like kennisnet.nl). Teachers are free to choose whether they want to participate in this and in what way. Therefore the collaborative learning activities are flexible.

Teachers are expected to implement the designed lesson plan when the workshop has taken place, to integrate the new knowledge into their teaching practice. They have one month to do this and are free to change the lesson plan if they want. Therefore the implementation of the designed lesson plan is obligated, but the way in which teachers implement the lesson plan is flexible.

Halfway the month after the training teachers are obligated to participate in a meeting with the coach at their school. The meeting takes up two hours. Teachers can ask questions and the coach will stimulate discussion. Since this meeting is obligated and teachers can not choose when and where it will happen this part of the support is not flexible. This part of the support is flexible though in that teachers can choose what the meeting is about.

Flexibility in the design process
Designing the TPACK lesson and the instructor support we found it difficult to keep it realistic. We tried to be as flexible as we considered possible and appropriate in our design. A difficult decision for example was whether the workshop would be obligated or not. If a workshop is obligated, it is possible (some) teachers will only come because they have to and not because they are committed to learning something. We decided to make it obligated though, because otherwise the school might spend a lot of money on the project, while only a few teachers decide to participate. To get teachers motivated even though it’s obligated it is important that the school leader is supportive. That means the school leader has to support the project in his/her vision and by providing time and money for teachers to participate.

When it comes to time and costs we found it difficult to keep our implementation plan and instructor support realistic as well. It is very easy to think from an ideal perspective, but in practice costs and time are important success factors for implementation.

The total costs for the workshop and the follow-up are not extremely high (about 1800 euro), but it is a lot of money for a school.

Time is also always a difficult aspect for teachers. They don’t have much time for activities outside the classroom practice. This workshop and the follow-up take up about 10 hours spread over 1 month. It’s important that the school provides that time and not expects teachers to do it as something extra to their normal work.