Transforming Rural Communities: Virtual Instructional Coaching in Afterschool and Library Programs

July 1st, 2017 - June 30th, 2020 | PROJECT

As part of its overall strategy to enhance learning in informal environments, the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program funds innovative research, approaches and resources for use in a variety of settings. The project will derive a nationwide online coaching/mentoring program for out of school educators in rural settings. The program builds on a Noyce Foundation pilot project. The issue to be addressed is that educators in rural settings are challenged in a multitude of ways due to isolation. This project will try to find ways to alleviate some of the consequences of isolation through resource sharing, knowledge sharing, and unique techniques for communicating with students. Partners in this effort are the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, the National AfterSchool Association, Development Without Limits, and the Maine State Library.

By using widely-available technologies, this project will bring fully online instructional coaching in STEM to out-of-school educators who live too remotely to attend ongoing in-person workshops. The project team will achieve this by adapting a highly promising coaching program where groups of educators video-record their own work with youth, practice key skills, and meet regularly to discuss their work. The project will: (a) test technical challenges to achieve fully virtual implementation; (b) design and adapt a specific STEM-skill curriculum to align with different levels of need; (c) customize the model to work with rural librarians; and (d) integrate the work into existing state and national accreditation systems.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Project Products

2019 AISL PI Meeting Poster: Virtual Coaching in Rural Afterschools & Libraries
2021 Poster - Virtual Coaching in Rural Afterschools & Libraries
2021 STEM for All Video Showcase Video: Virtual professional development for community educators

Team Members

Sue Allen, Principal Investigator, Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: AISL
Award Number: 1713134
Funding Amount: $1,224,200.00

Tags

Access and Inclusion: Rural
Audience: Educators | Teachers
Discipline: Education and learning science | General STEM
Resource Type: Project Descriptions | Projects
Environment Type: Afterschool Programs | Library Programs | Media and Technology | Professional Development | Conferences | Networks | Professional Development and Workshops | Resource Centers and Networks | Websites | Mobile Apps | Online Media