Internet Learning Volume 7, Number 1 • 2018/2019 | Page 28

Preparing Teachers for the 21 st Century Classroom
the option to take the time they need to
process meaning. Students who benefit
from a front row-seating placement or
quieter environment have those needs
met through the video lesson. Those
who need a louder volume setting or
enlarged image can easily change their
settings.
Unexpected Benefits
Various benefits emerged. For example,
incorporating teacher-made videos can
transform the quality of instructional
time during class sessions that are facilitated
by a substitute teacher or sessions
interrupted by weather conditions. One
participant in the online field experience
realized that she “could use this
knowledge to maybe create assignments
for snow days or maybe if I ever know
that I am going to be out for a few days
in a row, I could video myself teaching
a math class” (Course Evaluation Comment,
Spring 2018). Preservice and inservice
teachers expressed various levels
of appreciation for the value of learning
online learning methods. One education
major commented that she plans
“to use screencasting and voiceovers
more in [her] classroom instruction
and in completing grad school projects”
(Course Evaluation Comment, Spring
2018). Educators found applications
for online teaching techniques in both
their university courses and K-12 classrooms.
Marketability
Participating in an online field experience
in an active virtual classroom provides
learning outcomes that directly
enhance career possibilities. Teachers
become more marketable when they
have online teaching skills (Quillen,
2010). Those that have had field experiences
in virtual classrooms appreciate
having “learned how to build and facilitate
an online course” (Course Evaluation
Comment, Summer 2017). One
teacher, after learning online teaching
techniques, now feels comfortable
enough with those skills to “possibly
seek a way to work for Georgia virtual
school on a part time basis” (Course
Evaluation Comment, Spring 2016).
Another has used her skills to improve
her own teaching and has taken the lead
with colleagues in her public school:
I really enjoyed your class and
the strategies you used. With the
flipped instruction and Kahoot
game, I have become teacher of
teachers in my school, where
other teachers and district staff
come to visit and observe my
class. I presented the above two
in our faculty meeting. Right
now, I am the only one in my
school using [the] flipped model
and all science and math teachers
[are] using Kahoot games.
My students are enjoying my
class and learning is fun to them.
During your class, I became the
teacher of the month; also I was a
few points away to becoming the
teacher of the year. Your class has
really benefited me and my students
tremendously. (Personal
Email Communication, April 25,
2014)
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