Call for Chapters: Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Teaching K-12 Students in Virtual Learning Environments

Call for Chapters
Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Teaching K-12 Students in Virtual Learning Environments

Editors
Margaret (Maggie) Niess
Oregon State University
niessm@oregonstate.edu

Henry Gillow-Wiles
Oregon State University
gillowwh@oregonstate.edu

Submission details
Submit proposals to: https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/4854
Proposal submission deadline: October 24, 2020
Notification of acceptance: November 7, 2020
Full chapters due: February 21, 2021

Introduction
How can students learn safely amid the challenges of the global pandemic? Currently, it is not safe to have them crowded in a classroom engaged in face-to-face learning. The challenge has forced K-12 teachers to think differently about teaching.  Unexpectedly, and with little warning, they have been confronted with redesigning their curriculum and instruction from face-to-face to online virtual classrooms to protect students from the COVID-19 virus. The critical questions include: Has this shift assured that students will learn the identified essential content and skills for the 21st century?  Will they develop the skills identified through the 4C’s: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity (Thoughtful Learning Organization, 2016)?  The rapid shift of K-12 education to being online left educators and parents lacking in confidence that students will receive an appropriate education through the virtual environments proposed for keeping students safe. The speed with which this transition was made prevented educators from developing the necessary knowledge and skills needed to create engaging learning in the unfamiliar virtual environment. Superficial observations of the online features and organizations for virtual environments suggest these environments lack key elements for guiding students in engaging in the skills such as those identified by the 4C’s. A more serious question is: Are the bold claims true that students cannot learn online in virtual environments? Some say that teachers lack the knowledge of how to think about online teaching in a virtual environment. This claim begs the question: Are today’s teachers simply applying their classroom strategies as they have done in their face-to-face classrooms, only now in front of a web camera?

 

Objective of the book
The primary objective of this book is to gather and present actual best practices and pedagogical reasoning for designing online strategies that work for K-12 virtual learning. The chapters will provide ways to think about teaching in virtual environments that can be used to guide instructional strategy choices and ultimate decisions. The ideas and frameworks will present effective online pedagogical reasoning for the redesign and implementation of K-12 virtual classrooms.

Target audience
The target audience includes:

  • K-12 teachers, various content and various grade levels
  • Teacher educators
  • Educational designers and developers (Preservice, Inservice, or Professional development
  • Instructional technology faculty
  • Distance learning faculty

 

Topics of interest for a chapter for one of these three primary sections:

  1. Foundations for transforming teachers’ online pedagogical reasoning. Chapters for this section provide theoretical models/frameworks for teacher development programs toward transforming teachers’ online pedagogical reasoning strategies for constructing virtual learning experiences.
  2. Best practices and pedagogical reasoning for K-12 grade levels. Chapters in this section provide actual learning activities based on best practices and pedagogical reasoning supported by current foundations for transforming teachers’ online pedagogical reasoning with respect to specific grade levels. Grade levels under consideration are elementary school, middle school, and high school.
  3. Best practices and pedagogical reasoning for K-12 content areas. Chapters in this section provide actual learning activities based on best practices and pedagogical reasoning supported by current foundations for transforming teachers’ online pedagogical reasoning with respect to K-12 content areas. Content areas under consideration are mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies/history.

Submission procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before October 24, 2020, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the virtual learning mission and concerns, including a detailed plan for the proposed chapter. Use the following guidelines  for creating your proposal.

  1. For foundations chapters (section 1) describing the model/framework for programs for transforming teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical reasoning for constructing virtual learning experiences provide the:
  • Aim and/or mission of the model/framework.
  • Theoretical and research frameworks.
  • Implementation for – preservice, inservice and/or professional development.
  • The kinds of learning experiences that might align with the model/framework.
  • Directions for future examination.
  1. For best practices and pedagogical reasoning for K-12 grade level or content area chapters (sections 2 and 3) provide:
  • The goals and mission for the virtual learning experience.
  • The model/framework used to guide the development of the virtual learning experience.
  • The specific virtual learning experience for the grade level/content area of interest.
  • The online pedagogical reasoning and online instructional strategies for the virtual learning experience.
  • The successes with this virtual learning experience.
  • The concerns and challenges for this virtual learning experience.
  • Directions for future examination.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.  Submit your proposal through this link:

https://www.igi-global.com/publish/call-for-papers/call-details/4854

Authors will be notified by November 7, 2020 about the status of their proposals and if selected, will be sent chapter guidelines. Full chapters are expected to be submitted by February 21, 2021, and all interested authors must consult these guidelines for manuscript submissions prior to submission.

https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/

All submitted chapters will be reviewed using a double-blind review process. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Transforming Teachers’ Online Pedagogical Reasoning for Teaching K-12 Students in Virtual Learning Environments. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-blind peer review editorial process.

Publisher
This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global (formerly Idea Group Inc.), an international academic publisher of the “Information Science Reference” (formerly Idea Group Reference), “Medical Information Science Reference,” “Business Science Reference,” and “Engineering Science Reference” imprints. IGI Global specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2022.

 

Important dates
October 24, 2020: Proposal Submission Deadline
November 7, 2020: Notification of Acceptance
February 21, 2021: Full Chapter Submission
April 21, 2021: Review Results Returned
June 2, 2021: Final Acceptance Notification
June 16, 2021: Final Chapter Submission

 

Inquiries
For more information regarding this project, please contact either:
Maggie Niess (niessm@oregonstate.edu)
Henry Gillow-Wiles (gillowwh@oregonstate.edu)