CASELINKS, A Multi-media Community of School Practice: How Does it Effect Learning?

The purpose of this short paper is twofold: (1) We first discuss project CASELINK’S model of professional development which utilizes interactive, web-based learning modules. These modules are based on a constructivist view of the learner and a problem-based pedagogy; (2) We then briefly discuss research results from an ongoing evaluation study that was designed to examine CASELINK’S impact on teacher learning during a pilot test of a module. Project CASELINKS is a research and development project whose impetus was a question: How can traditional academic knowledge and the highly specific and contextualized "knowledge-in-practice" be integrated in a meaningful context for use in professional development? Utilizing a problem-based learning pedagogy (Bridges & Hallinger, 1995), the CASELINK team has designed, developed and is field-testing four interactive multimedia web modules for use with both pre-service and in-service teachers. The goal of this professional development is to enhance teachers’ understanding of students with educational differences in general and their understandings of and ability to work with English Learners in particular.