GLOBE Program Online Teacher Professional Development Conference

American Museum Natural History, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award is being used to convene an expert workshop on STEM educator professional development using online and blended delivery methods and their potential application within the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program. GLOBE is an international science and science education program, jointly managed by NASA and NSF, that engages educators and students in collecting protocol-driven data on more than 55 different environmental parameters and contributing those observations to a global database. Elementary and secondary students in more than 110 countries participate in the program. The workshop will identify the current state of knowledge regarding effective online and blended professional development models that have the greatest potential to be used by the GLOBE program. Switching to a mostly online format for training teachers in the GLOBE protocols - currently done through face-to-face workshops - will allow the GLOBE program to continue growing in a more cost effective way. The workshop will also identify a set of important education research questions that can leverage the large and diverse GLOBE community as a research platform. These include issues such as how effective online professional development links to student achievement in STEM, cultural factors that may influence the effectiveness of educator professional development, and how to scale-up effective professional development practices. The "GLOBE Program Online Teacher Professional Development Conference" is being convened at NSF headquarters in early September 2014. It will bring together 20 participants with expertise in STEM educator professional development, online learning, and the GLOBE program. The main deliverable of this workshop will be a report identifying the most appropriate and best strategies for using online and blended training for GLOBE program educators and a preliminary education research agenda that might leverage the unparalleled opportunities offered by the extensive and culturally diverse community that engages in GLOBE activities.