Purpose of the Task Force
“In case you do not already know it, teaching online is different from teaching in the traditional classroom. You cannot just take what you do in a face-to-face class and “put it online.” In fact, because online learning is so different from traditional classroom learning, the online learning revolution has forced us to look more closely at how courses are constructed and how students learn. Ultimately, this forced self-reflection of sorts will hopefully result in better instruction of both the concrete and online kind.” (Pollock, 2013, p. 3, emphasis added).
Purpose
Education has seen a marked increase in the learning opportunities delivered through distance education (Allen & Seaman, 2013; Moore, 2013; Simonson, Smaldino & Zvacek, 2014). For our purposes, distance education refers to “institution based, formal education where the learning group is separated, and where interactive telecommunications systems are used to connect learners, resources, and instructors” (Simonson & Schlosser, 2009 p.1). The physical and temporal separation of the learning group distinguishes the distance education classroom from the traditional classroom. The ability to deliver technologically assisted educational content to students that are separated by time and space allows individuals who might not otherwise have access to educational opportunities a means by which to participate. Despite the exciting possibilities that distance education allows for, teaching in this environment poses some new pedagogical challenges. Challenges that perhaps mathematics educators have not fully considered in the design and implementation of their courses.
The Task Force intends this site is to assist mathematics teacher educators in their capacity as designers and facilitators of both mathematical content and mathematical pedagogy in distance learning environments. As mathematics teacher educators we have become adept at delivering mathematical instruction to our in-service and pre-service teachers as well as providing pedagogical insights and reflective experiences that will, in turn, help them develop their own students’ mathematical abilities. Furthermore, as a group, the AMTE has dedicated considerable time and effort to establishing rigorous standards for preparation of mathematics teacher educators and for the most part, we think that this vision has been, and continues to be actualized on universities across the country. As mathematics teacher preparation and professional development moves off the physical bounds of the university and into the digital environment however, we feel there will be needed adjustments to how we enact mathematical interactions and instruct our students in mathematical pedagogy. These adjustments will not be to the fundamental principles of the how we prepare mathematics teachers (ie. the AMTE Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics) or even in the principles that guide high quality mathematical interaction (ie. the NCTM Standards & Principles for School Mathematics and the NCTM Principles to Action). The adjustments are aimed at the structure of our courses in the online environment and the accommodations that must be made for learning mathematics and learning to teach mathematics at a distance.