R.L. Rider and D.D. Manning (USA)
Distance Professional Development, Scientific Visualization, and Videoconferencing
It is becoming increasingly difficult for schools in the United States to recruit and retain Mathematics and Science educators in all grade levels. Many schools are filling positions with temporarily licensed individuals while trying to hire subject licensed professionals. This severe educator shortage, along with increased budget cuts to government supported schools, led to a collaboratively developed project between The College of Education at East Carolina University in North Carolina and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Illinois funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This paper will highlight the lessons learned from implementing a videoconferencing staff development program between different states including barriers to be overcome to achieve the goals set forth in this project. Specific technology issues from technical support, to software and hardware specifics will be discussed in this paper. Formal evaluation methods and summaries will be described, exemplifying the alterations that were made between the first cohort and the current cohort of educators participating in the project.
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