Preparing future teachers for diverse schools in an online learning community: Perceptions and practice

This study provides an example of one institution's efforts to design coursework that meets the simultaneous challenges of supporting the aims of increasing access to online courses and simultaneously better preparing teachers to work in diverse classrooms. Based on online pre- and post-surveys and monthly open-ended writing prompts administered to students in an introductory teacher preparation course, the study sought to discover students' motivation to select online or blended courses, student perspectives on the benefits and challenges to taking this course online, characteristics of the learning environment that promoted or interfered with students' learning, instructor's perspective of learners' reaction to topics addressing K-12 classroom diversity, and the impact of an online format on students' discussions of issues related to learner diversity. Findings suggest that online courses should include a classroom placement component in which students experience a diverse classroom in order to best prepare students for diverse teaching assignments. Thus, the best online teacher preparation courses maybe those that blend virtual and face-to-face interaction rather than being strictly online.