Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to promote application and analysis of online instructional approaches to classroom management supported by experiential learning approaches to real field experience. Participants of this study were enrolled in the 2016-2017 AY web based online elementary and secondary classroom management course. Participants are 32 novice teachers with little or no field experience in a large and culturally diverse urban school district in the Southwest United States. The researcher compared data gathered from participants’ online anonymous surveys, student and teacher portfolios, and instructor’s journals. Analysis and findings for this study is based on novice teachers’ learning outcomes and course appreciation. This study strongly supports both experiential and personalized learning approaches to the courses’ assignments and assessments applications into a virtual situated learning, a rich learning environment opposes the standard techniques of theoretical concepts in a situated learning approach without subject, object, and instrument [1]. Generalizing, courses for teacher education rationalize concepts in distant classroom environments disconnected from local contexts. Experiential and personalized learning gives the context that connects the whole group by collective and meaningful experience. Experiential and personalized approaches applied to assignments, discussions and practice analysis of topics covered by the courses’ objectives and goals were successfully achieved by all learners. Course satisfaction evaluations from both instructor and learners provided the basis for distance learning courses as a rich learning experience to all students. The web based course contents, assignments and assessments moved from a generalist basal instructional methodology into learner’s personalized approaches [14] to meet the differentiated content needs of each student. That brought the need to redesign the course format addressing clear lesson plans aligned to objectives and goals of for each module. The new design featured differentiated strategies and supporting materials that allowed learners to identify the contents that better expressed their individual beliefs into the subject areas that they studied in the management plan, novice teachers are encouraged to draw from their personal teaching philosophy. This called for a warm virtual learning environment that encourages experiential learning approaches [15] and collaboration with peers and veteran teachers through discussions, observations and interviews, and constant feedback [16] to allow novice teachers to learn through practice. Experiential learning permitted the analysis of theoretical learned concepts from the course framework into real or virtual classrooms of learners’ personal interests instead of online basal instruction that tends to distance learners from practice. Activity theories are not in context if the system doesn’t integrate the subject, the object, and the instruments into a unified whole [1]. Experiential and personalized learning approaches provided a constant feedback to novice teachers in distance learning Classroom Management instruction adding constructive positive creative ideas and insights. The online classroom environment connected the students and provided a space for a long-term collaboration beyond the classroom. Experiential and personalized learning provide choices and the opportunities that novice teachers need to be successful in both their careers as well as the course.

Keywords:

Virtual learning environments, web based instruction, experiential learning, personalized learning, situated learning, classroom management pre-service teachers