The GRIP Lab at the University of Michigan, home of the LessonSketch way of working, has been developing two software tools that they use in their research, which have particular relevance in light of the pandemic and potential for use at a wider scale in teacher education and professional development. Anotemos is a collaborative video annotation tool and LessonDepict is a collaborative lesson storyboarding tool. In combination, these tools could support practice-focused teacher development in circumstances when doing so in actual schools and face-to-face is not as easy. What keeps these tools from being accessible to teacher educators for such uses is a lack of resources, so we are seeking support. Please give what you can at https://bit.ly/2INr06j
Teacher educators who have had the opportunity to try them attest to the value these tools bring to their practice. For example, Professor Janet Walkoe (University of Maryland) said “Anotemos has transformed my work with teachers in professional development contexts… Part of the middle school math and science methods course I teach involves conducting video clubs [with] teachers watching and discussing a classroom video. Anotemos has allowed me to continue to conduct video clubs in these courses, online. [N]ot only has Anotemos made this possible but it has enriched the discussion as well…. discussions about student thinking in a video have been more sustained when using Anotemos, rather than jumping around from idea to idea.”
Similarly, Professor Sandra Crespo (Michigan State University) said “LessonDepict … is an important educational and research tool with great potential for impact on teacher preparation and on improving the quality of research on mathematics teacher education … We have been able to create complex teaching scenarios for teacher candidates to rehearse theoretical teaching principles they are studying in their methods courses, without risking the welfare and well-being of students in real classrooms. [We have] tested and been able to show the effectiveness of these instructional materials across five geographical and institutional locations. …. This is the kind of high impact collaborative design-based research on mathematics teacher education that our field needs and that LessonDepict can support.”
Your financial contribution will allow the GRIP Lab to provide software and user support to teacher educators and their students. Please give what you can at https://bit.ly/2INr06j
