Literacy Colloque: Dr. Leigh Hall-How Digital, Interactive, and On-Demand Learning Effects Teacher Learning

Middle and high school teachers want to address the literacy needs of their students but often have limited knowledge about what to do. Additionally, one-shot workshops do not provide the support teachers need to adequately learn new pedagogical approaches and apply them to their instruction. However, online learning has the potential to change how we conduct professional development. In this presentation, I will share how short, focused courses, called micro-courses, were developed to help middle and high school teachers improve their knowledge of literacy instruction. Each course was interactive and allowed teachers to share their ideas, receive feedback, and provide feedback to others as often as they wished. This study is in its second year and data will be shared as a work-in-progress. I will focus on: (a) how the online structure did/did not support teacher learning, (b) how and why teachers utilized the interactive component of the experience, and (c) the challenges and demands of creating, implementing, and supporting online professional development for educators.

Dr. Leigh A. Hallis a professor at the University of Wyoming where she holds the Wyoming Excellence in Higher Education Endowed Chair in Literacy Education. She taught middle school language arts and social studies in Houston, Texas before returning to graduate school to earn a doctorate in literacy education. Prior to coming to UW, Dr. Hall was at the University of North Carolina for 12 years. Dr. Hall’s research centers on helping adolescents improve their academic reading and writing abilities. She examines how teachers can work with diverse learners to help them improve their literacy practices within the context of the classroom. Dr. Hall is particularly interested in the role technology can play in enhancing instruction to achieve these goals. Her research has received several awards including the Outstanding Dissertation award from the International Literacy Association, the Early Career Achievement Award, and the Edward B. Fry Book Award for Empowering Struggling Readers: Practices for the Middle Grades (both from the Literacy Research Association. She has published in such journals as Research in the Teaching of English, Journal of Literacy Research, Teachers College Record, and Harvard Educational Review.

Link to flier for the presentation: Dr.LeighHall-LiteracyColloquy-Oct 29,2019