Education is ever-changing and developing. At the beginning and end of the school year, there are professional development opportunities that engage the staff and help support new ideas. Educators can get caught up with testing, meetings, and grading and now a health crisis and the great new ideas go by the wayside. Working on zoom and from home can be discouraging. This is when educators need to come together to help their students. The idea of collective efficacy is not new but has started to gain recognition. Working together for the greater good of the students and the school overall can help boost student achievement. As with a sports team where the coaches and players implement a game plan to win the game, schools’ staff need to work together, no matter the obstacles, to best support student achievement. Staffs that work together can be more productive if they have a common goal. "Educators with high efficacy show greater effort and persistence, a willingness to try new approaches and attend more closely to the needs of students who are not progressing." (Donohoo, 2017). Students may have difficulties with technology, working from home attending classes, or working through childhood trauma. Educators can meet students where they are and build positive relationships and help students through difficult times to increase student achievement.
Number of Units: 3.0 graduate level extension credit(s) in semester hours
Who Should Attend: This course provides continuing education for K-12 educators interested in planning customized curriculum and/or lesson plans.
Course Materials: Text, Collective Efficacy: How Educators' Beliefs Impact Student Learning by Jenni Donohoo available at Amazon.com (save with the electronic version of text (e-textbook)), or your local bookstore
Technical Requirements
Once you have enrolled in your course, log in to your account to access the course Welcome Letter, which includes directions on how to access the Online Orientation and your online course.
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Courses offer a convenient, yet rigorous style of learning that allows you to structure your education to suit your schedule while keeping you on pace toward achieving your educational goals.
Online fixed-date courses are delivered virtually but follow a predetermined schedule, requiring students to complete assignments, participate in discussions, and take assessments by specific deadlines—much like a traditional classroom. The key difference is that while traditional courses are conducted in person at set times and locations, online fixed-date courses allow students to engage remotely, offering more flexibility in where they learn while preserving structure and accountability through fixed timelines. (Note: Any scheduled Zoom sessions will be outlined on the class schedule.) These courses have fixed start and finish dates, but as an online student you will have 24/7 online access to your classroom assignments, syllabus and course resources. Instructor feedback is shared along with the graded assignments.
How is the learning structured? Each online fixed-date course is asynchronous, meaning that you can work on your assignments anytime, although you are required to complete the assignments by specific dates. The course is designed with learning modules where all of the content is grouped into weekly assignments. Each module covers one or more topics. Within each of the learning modules, you can expect the following components:
• Module introduction that outlines what you can expect to learn in the module.
• Required readings (textbook, articles, journals, etc.) and presentations (audio and/or video).
• Assignments with due dates (which may include: written assignments, journal entries, research, blogs, etc.) based on the readings and presentations.
• Discussion forum where you answer prompts from the instructor and interact with your classmates.
• Module conclusion to review the topics and what you should have learned.
Typically, there is a final project, paper, or exam due in the last module that culminates all of the topics covered in each of the learning modules. You’ll find that the design of the learning modules has a rhythm to help you manage your time in the course.
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