Leveraging CRT awareness in creating web-based projects through use of online collaborative learning for pre-service teachers

This paper explores the roles played by cloud computing technologies and social media in facilitating a learning community for online group collaborative learning, and particularly explores opportunities and challenges in leveraging culturally responsive teaching (CRT) awareness in educational technology. It describes implementation of a three-stage 18-week program of online group collaborative learning intervention involving 31 pre-service teacher participants from three different courses at a teacher education center. Data were collected from various sources, including individual interviews, project artifacts, and group interviews, and responses were obtained to questions related to CRT pedagogy and WebQuest. Careful analysis of the data revealed multiple roles of cloud computing and use of social media technologies for informal learning. Participants' Facebook usage also demonstrated the critical role of social presence in forming learning communities. The findings also demonstrated that the pre-service teachers were most confident when incorporating multicultural information, resources, and materials in creating WebQuests. Meanwhile, the WebQuest tasks designed by them were rarely for higher order thinking skills because of stereotyping of children of immigrants. Discussion and implications of the study are also described.