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ENT Gallery: Developing a Community of Practice
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| University Educators |
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 The university educators were primarily interested in this project as an opportunity to try some new ways of linking educational research with practice. More specifically, they wanted to learn how the Teaching for Understanding (TfU) framework and online resources might support school and museum educators in applying research-based pedagogies to collaborative design of educational experiences.
After initial consultation with the Plimoth educators, the primary contact Plimoth had with the university participants was through the online course, Teaching to Standards with New Technologies, in which the Plimoth group formed one of five study teams. As instructor for the online course, university-based educator Stone Wiske thought the Plimoth group made a good start on designing the Packing for America curriculum unit during the course. She hoped the teachers and museum educators would continue working together online after the course and was surprised to learn that no further communication was planned or accomplished during the following summer.
The university educators were disappointed that the resources within the Education with New Technologies site and the WIDE World online course were not more effective in launching the Plimoth/school partnership. Wiske was encouraged, however, when Plimoth decided to continue development of their Online Learning Center and to use the TfU model as a structure for this and other educational initiatives. She encouraged the museum educators to continue collaborating with schoolteachers and hopes that, with clear leadership, online resources may yet prove useful in supporting school/museum collaboration.
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