Teacher Innovation Grants: Responding to the Pandemic
The University of Maryland funded a series of teacher innovation grants in 2020-21, noting that the COVID-19 pandemic presents great challenges, but also provides new opportunities to learn about, develop, and plan outstanding online courses that are adaptable and accessible to all students under a variety of circumstances and are highly innovative.
Alison Jovanovic, a senior faculty specialist, and Loren Jones, Assistant Clinical Professor, received a teaching innovation grant from the university to re-imagine the seminar and internship experience for teacher candidates in the secondary and K-12 undergraduate and graduate programs. Given the significance of personal interaction in the seminar and in-classroom teaching internship, transitioning to a virtual environment presented significant challenges.
Supported by the grant, the teacher education program pivoted to preparing teacher candidates to observe experienced teachers build rapport in a virtual context; modify lesson plans for the online environment; effectively teach content via the school system’s platform, and adeptly use virtual tools to assess students’ understanding.
Additionally, the teaching team redesigned several internships and seminar-based tasks and experiences with a new technology-based component that aligns with the new International Society for Technology in Education standards, which also translated to new technological abilities for COE faculty
Alison Jovanovic serves as the Social Studies Program Coordinator and Professional Development Site Coordinator for Social Studies Education, where she oversees the internship experience for the undergraduates, teaches the corresponding seminar and methods courses, maintains relationships and training for community partners, and is the project coordinator the UMD Difficult History Project: Teaching with Primary Sources.
Dr. Loren Jones is an Assistant Clinical Professor and Coordinator for the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Programs in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership in the College of Education. Prior to joining the faculty at UMD, Dr. Jones earned her Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from the University of Miami, Florida and taught Spanish at the secondary level in both traditional and online formats.
