International Portal of Teacher Education

Source: The Teacher Educator, Volume 46, Issue 1, 2011, p. 71–88.
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)

The purpose of this article is threefold.
First, the authors present a technology-based innovation called eSupervision, a student teaching supervision program created to improve the field experience by using cognitive apprenticeship as a framework for its design.
Second, the authors analyze program implementation to determine whether eSupervision functions as it was designed.
Finally, the authors evaluate the stakeholders’ perceptions of the program to determine the design and technology components of the program that are working effectively.

Nine student teaching triads (two supervisors assigned to nine student teachers and their guide teachers) from a large public university in the Pacific Southwest participated in a pilot of eSupervision during the second semester of a year-long credential program.
The pilot was implemented in one urban high school.

All of the student teachers completed a three-unit education technology course in their first semester in the credential program.
Guide teachers had laptops and experience with technology use for grading and access to the district’s database on student records as well as e-mail.
One of the university supervisors was very facile with technology, whereas the other needed significant coaching. All participants held three on-site trainings on the eSupervision technology over the course of the semester.

Methodology and Analysis
The cognitive apprenticeship framework is theory-based and has been shown to be an effective structure for learning in a variety of contexts.
Therefore, the hypothesis was that structuring the field experience on the framework of a cognitive apprenticeship would be an effective model for the student teaching field experience.
The authors defined success as utilization of the tools and users’ perceptions of the effectiveness and outcomes of participation in eSupervision as related to the six cognitive apprenticeship strategies - modeling, scaffolding, coaching, articulation, reflection, and community.
Participants were interviewed regarding their experience with eSupervison.

The student teachers, guide teachers, and supervisors found eSupervision to be a positive experience and were most favorable toward the community aspect of the program. All nine student teachers expressed that they had experienced growth in their teaching ability as a result of participating in eSupervision.