In 2015, I supported the development of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) for in-service teachers called “Teaching With Technology and Inquiry” (INQ101x). This 6-week course was offered by OISE/University of Toronto in collaboration with the University of Toronto Schools (UTS). Course topics included:
- Inquiry and student-centred pedagogy
- Designing technology-based activities and assessments
- Collaborative learning
- Handheld and mobile devices
- Knowledge co-construction and student-contributed content
- Inquiry Enactment and classroom management
Each week, these topics were presented from three different perspectives: That of an academic researcher, a school administrator, and a K-12 teacher. My role was to capture and create the course videos documenting each of these perspectives. This entailed coordinating filming opportunities with teachers from various subject areas, capturing examples of technology and inquiry being used in real-world classrooms, and conducting follow-up interviews with teachers and administrators in order to capture their perspectives on policy and practice.
Once the course began, my role became that of a TA. In contrast to ‘traditional’ MOOCs (i.e. mostly consisting of lecture videos), this course was uniquely designed to engage participants in design-oriented collaborative activities. In addition to responding to students’ questions and discussion board posts, part of my role entailed becoming a member of a design project team, tasked with developing a subject-specific application of technology and inquiry for use in real classrooms.
Alisa Acosta 