The Teachers College Digital Futures Institute is pursuing projects focused on how education is changing now, and where education is headed in the future. DFI’s recent efforts have focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on K12 and higher education, with a particular emphasis on the role of technology in shaping and altering teaching and learning and the practices of educators and students. We will periodically update this page with ongoing research, publications, and activities connected with the changing landscape of education.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN EDUCATION
AI in the Classroom
With the release of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that generates text responses to prompts, and its subsequent banning in multiple school districts across the country, increased attention is being paid to the challenges and opportunities these types of tools present. DFI is creating and collecting resources to help envision new educational possibilities with this and other AI technologies.
Exploring Virtual Reality: A Teacher's Guide for Workshop Facilitation
Virtual Reality (VR) technology has become increasingly popular in recent years and has the potential to transform the way students learn in the classroom. The benefits of VR technology for learning are manifold. VR provides students with an immersive and experiential approach that can enhance their understanding of complex concepts.
The Future of Teaching at Teachers College
During the 2021-2022 school year, while the COVID-19 pandemic continued to unfold, Teachers College embarked on a multi-faceted project to determine what impacts the pandemic will have on the future of teaching at the college and beyond. This project was composed of four main components:
1) a task force, comprised of trustees, faculty, and staff from administrative offices;
2) faculty perspectives, which included a faculty seminar with faculty from across the college;
3) student perspectives, gained from surveys and focus groups; and
4) a landscape analysis of the evolving academic digital landscape at peer institutions.
This report presents key highlights and recommendations from the project, which are intended to inform further conversation and engagement at the college about the shape and practice of teaching and the institutional supports necessary to propel teaching at Teachers College into a new era.
Pedagogies of Possibility
Exploring Culturally Responsive Education during COVID-19
A report from DFI Affiliated Researcher Detra Price-Dennis presents from finding from a study of how K-12 teachers adapted their culturally responsive instructional practices during the shift to emergency remote learning precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings from this study provide insight into multiple factors that interfered with classroom teachers’ approach to remote instruction during the COVID- 19 pandemic. In brief:
1) Teachers were not prepared for online learning
2) Teachers received little to no guidance about metrics for success
3) Teachers received little to no guidance about how to pursue digital pedagogy
4) Teachers received little to no guidance about developmentally appropriate uses of technology for learning.