The COVID-19 pandemic forced a nationwide shutdown of in-person learning. Remote learning became the new, temporary model of education for students. The intention of this study was to gather teacher perceptions and experiences to understand the potential outcomes of remote learning on students with exceptionalities and their social and emotional learning. The theoretical foundation for this study was derived from four different models. These included the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning"s (CASEL) Five Competencies model, which focuses on social and emotional learning, and the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) model, which focuses on best practices to engage all learners in their environment. The study also used the substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition (SAMR) model and the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model that include practices for teaching with technology to enhance learning. The research questions addressed were as follows: what are teachers" perceptions about the social and emotional impacts of remote learning on students with exceptionalities?; how do teachers perceive the impacts of remote learning within the two schools?; and what technology best practices and professional learning do teachers perceive impacted students with exceptionalities? The research design for this qualitative study, encompassed multiple cases that included teacher interviews with a semi-structured interview protocol. The sample for this study consisted of 16 educators: eight elementary general education teachers, three elementary special education teachers, and five elementary related service providers. Interviews were transcribed and coded using grounded theory. The themes that emerged were as follows: students" SEL deficits and exceptions, challenges among stakeholders, and superficial technology knowledge and skills. The data strongly suggest the need for change. Implications and recommendations for schools and districts, teacher preparation programs, and policy makers are presented. For example, teachers should have time to learn SEL curriculum and also to collaborate with colleagues to support one another and share ideas and practices. The findings of this study may help support the reimagining of special education, teacher practices, and how to integrate social and emotional learning into curriculum throughout the day.

Find out how to apply learning science in online classes The concept of small teaching is simple: small and strategic changes have enormous power to improve student learning. Instructors face unique and specific challenges when teaching an online course. This book offers small teaching strategies that will positively impact the online classroom. This book outlines practical and feasible applications of theoretical principles to help your online students learn. It includes current best practices around educational technologies, strategies to build community and collaboration, and minor changes you can make in your online teaching practice, small but impactful adjustments that result in significant learning gains. Explains how you can support your online students Helps your students find success in this non-traditional learning environment Covers online and blended learning Addresses specific challenges that online instructors face in higher education Small Teaching Online presents research-based teaching techniques from an online instructional design expert and the bestselling author of Small Teaching.

This report summarizes the results of an ambitious three-year ethnographic study, funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, into how young people are living and learning with new media in varied settings—at home, in after school programs, and in online spaces. It offers a condensed version of a longer treatment provided in the book Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out (MIT Press, 2009). The authors present empirical data on new media in the lives of American youth in order to reflect upon the relationship between new media and learning. In one of the largest qualitative and ethnographic studies of American youth culture, the authors view the relationship of youth and new media not simply in terms of technology trends but situated within the broader structural conditions of childhood and the negotiations with adults that frame the experience of youth in the United States. The book that this report summarizes was written as a collaborative effort by members of the Digital Youth Project, a three-year research effort funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Southern California. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Reports on Digital Media and Learning

This study sought to explore the experiences of teachers during Covid-19, their sense of morale, and the supports that were influential to that sense of morale. Three research questions were explored to better understand how teachers experienced teaching during Covid-19: (1) How do middle school teachers describe the experience of teaching during Covid-19?, (2) How do middle school teachers perceive their sense of morale during the Covid-19 pandemic?, and (3) What supports do these teachers describe as influential for their sense of morale? I conducted an exploratory, qualitative, single case study using semi-structured interviews of five participants selected in a purposeful sample. It was found that teachers experienced a number of challenges from March 2020 through May 2021 including ineffective communication and a lack of training, purchasing technology and materials out of pocket, a loss of control through technological difficulties and student disengagement. From August 2021 through May 2022 teachers experienced challenging student behaviors, loss of learning and social skills in students, and a significant learning loss in economically disadvantaged students which exacerbated inequity. An analysis of these five teachers' experiences and feelings during Covid-19 indicates that their sense of morale was fluid. All five participants had times when their state of morale could best be described as low; however, all five participants also had times when their state of morale could best be described as having mixed levels of morale. The positive influences on their state of morale varied by participant. Four of the five cited support from coworkers as a positive influence on morale. Another cited the relationships with their students and their love of teaching as positive influences. Another cited working from home as her safety needs were being met. Two of the participants cited student behaviors during the hybrid year. One of the two that cited student behaviors focused on the lack of negative student behavior. The other participant explained she had increased student engagement and smaller class sizes. The negative influences on their sense of morale included technological difficulties for all the participants at some point during hybrid learning or remote teaching, student disengagement, and lack of communication. All five also discussed the negative influence on their sense of morale from student behaviors once all students returned to in-person instruction. Another negative influence on three participants was a reduced sense of safety on campus when all students returned. Finally, teachers value both instructional and social-emotional support from their colleagues more than administrative support. Based on these findings, five recommendations are offered. First, it is recommended that districts plan for effective communication for a future crisis. Second, it is important to address student behaviors after a school closure due to a crisis ending to ensure learning is not interrupted. Third, it is essential to provide teachers with the technology needed to perform their jobs in remote and hybrid teaching. Fourth, the disproportionate learning opportunities for economically disadvantaged students need to be addressed by providing access to needed technology and online connectivity and communication with parents during remote learning and allocating additional resources to support their learning when they return to school. Finally, teacher collaboration should be promoted, and teacher leaders must be recognized and rewarded for their efforts to support their colleagues.

The success of any interview or questionnaire depends upon good question design, yet most of the available literature has been devoted to interview techniques, rather than question formulation. This practical book provides a coherent, theoretical basis for the construction of valid and reliable questions for interviews and questionnaires. The theoretical framework used in the book provides a set of principles that, when followed, will increase the validity and reliability of verbal data collected for social research. Dr Foddy outlines the problems which can arise when framing questions with clarity and commonsense. He has written a wide ranging, useful book for survey practitioners working in the social sciences.