You ask a very important question about the continuation of learning in virtual contexts as (and we hope) Covid lessens the grip on our lives. Given what we have observed among teachers participating in NGSX virtual pathways, I am inclined to believe that virtual PD will continue.  We have seen a strong sense of community and culture emerge among participants from different regions of the country. The diversity of geography among participants contributes to growing a broader understanding of education realities in different parts of the United States, including our colleagues in Hawaii. This feels important.  Also beneficial to virtual pathway participants is the ongoing exchange of pedagogical practices/tools - in essence it is allowing teachers to broaden their circle of colleagues. Thank you Graciela for your questions. Best wishes.  Jean

Hi Allan! We have had a number of teachers use their phones and small tablets for accessing NGSX pathways and keep that in mind when designing each experience. In some cases it is actually better. For example - taking photos of scientific models and sharing on a Jamboard or uploading an initial explanation onto a Google Slide. Of course this would not be possible without internet...looking forward to checking out your work with teachers in Uzbekistan! 

I can't wait to see the future evolution of the platform and the professional development!

Hi Barry,

Great to hear from you, and thanks for your question about matching up folks who connect virtually across time and space.  We're thinking about ways to do it.  The possibilities that have been opened up with virtual PD (in spite of challenges) are very exciting.  It would be great to put our heads together.  Sarah

Margie, we have been so busy adapting existing face2face pathways to become virtual ones as well as launching new ones, the research side of our work has been less active.  Some potential research questions embedded in our virtual work are starting to percolate. More data is surely needed on facets of virtual learning contexts.  One data point that has arisen as part of one of our end of pathway surveys is how participants' report on migrating learnings from their NGSX experience to the challenges of their own remote teaching.  I wonder if there will be design work in preservice education that results in course work focused on teaching and learning in a virtual context. I am hopeful that such work does occur as productive synergies between preservice learning and professional development in this arena as well as others are needed. Any thoughts?  Thank you for your note!   Jean

Hi Margie,

I want to follow up on your question about teachers (who have participated in NGSX) collaborating in research (with others, with folks in higher education, or with us).  Part of what we do in our NGSX pathways is support teachers to take on the stance of "teacher researchers" -- documenting and reflecting on their own practice in guiding productive sensemaking discussions.  Participants plan for a key discussion, audio tape and reflect on the discussion (through a variety of lenses, including an equity lens), and post their reflections and see others' reflections.  In some cases this has led to collaborative groups of teachers continuing to meet and reflect on sensemaking talk -- and even to develop projects (with funding) relating to that work.  Most of the research we ourselves carry out at NGSX involves collaborating teacher leaders or NGSX facilitators, several of whom have gone on to do dissertations on this work.  And most of our design work involves practitioners as design partners.  We are currently working to develop an on-going community of NGSX teachers, across the country -- who might connect outside of actual NGSX pathways -- and we hope that that could help facilitate working groups of teacher-researchers who would produce important knowledge for the field.  So many rich possibilities.  Thanks for your note, and it would be lovely to keep in touch.  Sarah

Thank you, Elizabeth, and congratulations on the Deep Dive video.  We are just about to launch a new virtual pathway on Oceans, Climate Science & Big Data and NOAA has been a helpful resource to us!  And, yes, broadening the composition of study groups has yield some very preliminary data (through an end of the pathway survey) that teachers who do not know each other and who may come from very different contexts form connections as they work in small groups and whole group discussion virtually.  In our virtual pathways there are intentional steps taken to utilize breakout rooms in which teachers from different geographic areas work together in debriefing a science activity or work together to figure out a digital tool like CODAP that works wonders in sorting data in various ways.  As teachers work together different perspectives are shared.  Likewise, in the progressive process of figuring out whether tool or phenomenon, teachers appear to have a phenomenal capacity to develop community - to take risks in asking questions of one another and a sense of evolving trust and respect for one another despite differing backgrounds, geographic areas or school settings.  This broadening of community is surely something that deserves more study than we have been able at this point to accomplish. 

Best wishes for your work. Your video was so good to view!

Hi Jean- SUCH a great video showcasing your virtual PD efforts. Liz and I work on the Deep Dives initiative together, and your efforts here look like they could inform the follow-up events that take place after each of our live interaction events with an ocean science expert. About how many teachers were engaged in your virtual PD's? Were there favorite tools (I know you mention jamboard in the video) that really helped with virtual engagement and fostering discussion?  Lastly, about how long were your PD events? "Zoom fatigue" is always a concern, so I am curious how long the teachers were engaged in each session and how things were structured.  Thanks so much! FANTASTIC effort!

Hi Holly!  I'll try to answer a few of your questions, but feel free to follow up with me and Jean to ask us more!  (By the way, your work on Deep Dives seems terrific, and I agree, NGSX relates closely to what you are doing in your live interaction events!)

While over 10,000 teachers and over 500 instructional leaders, across 26 states, have participated in at least one of our NGSX face-to-face pathways, our Virtual Becoming a Next-Gen Science Teacher (V-BNGST) pathway is brand new.  At this point, 209 teachers and teacher leaders have participated in V-BNGST, from 19 states, and 61 educators have completed our V-BNGST facilitator pathway, from 12 states.  Our favorite zoom-based tools are "waterfall chats" as part of whole group discussions, the use of google draw and Jamboard as part of small group science investigations, gallery walks to share and compare small-group models, and uploading photographs and reflective posts in our web-based platform that participants use during our synchronous sessions.  The V-BNGST pathway provides 24 hours of synchronous, zoom-based engaged learning time -- which takes place over 6 four-hour modules -- scheduled in different ways, some over a series of weeks, some scheduled during vacations or over a few back-to-back days.  Each module is scheduled for 2 2-hour blocks (including breaks), with a long lunch break in between.  During the modules, participants engage in science investigations (with a home kit of materials we send them) in breakout rooms, and engage in whole group sensemaking discussions, with facilitators scribing consensus models and other community-shared ideas.  They also engage with numerous classroom video cases, and unpack them using transcripts -- during partner talks, and small and whole group discussions.  There's a large focus on student equity, access, and agency -- with attention to building a classroom culture of productive talk, and tools for supporting equitable sensemaking discussions.  Teachers also plan for key discussions relevant to their own teaching context, and carry them out and reflect on them as "teacher-researchers."  Over the course of the modules, we've seen participants become a highly collaborative community of learners, and in some cases build collegial relationships that are sustained after the pathway is over -- across states, time zones, and grade levels!  Happy to continue the conversation about your work and ours.  Thanks!

We'll definitely follow up with you!  Best, Sarah

I feel like this past year has been a "journey of learning" for all of us- your efforts are greatly appreciated! 

Brian, thank you for your comments . . . I will convey your good thoughts about the video work to our videographer!!  Yes, we are planning to continue with our virtual pathways as we have discovered many up sides for doing so.  One important reason is the ability to bring together teachers from different districts, states and even international locations together to learn from one another, to share teaching experiences and experiences as adult learners.  The technology supporting virtual learning is constantly evolving. Hybrid is certainly an option. We are exploring that option now so that is a bit of a wait and see proposition.  There is much to be explored in this virtual world of professional learning!   Jean

Barbara, the focus on the power of community and the role of culture in community are such powerful messages in these times when too often the focus is on the individual.  Hooray for the good work you and your team have done.  We all draw strength from it.  Our own work in NGSX in developing community in virtual contexts has been challenging though hugely rewarding.