GSN Bridges Communications Needs in Teacher Prep Program

The dynamic online environment of Generator School Network is having an impact on a teacher education program in northern Minnesota, easing communications among partner agencies, professors, and pre-service teachers.

“Email is not designed to do what we needed to do,” says Moorhead Schools Service-Learning Coordinator Anne Larson, “That’s where the GSN has really stepped in for us.” The GSN’s group function creates a space for ongoing group reflections, the ability to post materials relevant for the group, and allows multiple projects to be shared with all members of the group. “We can dig into the deep work of enhancing curriculum and meeting community needs,” says Larson. For nearly 10 years, teams of pre-service teachers at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn. have partnered with elementary teachers in Moorhead Public Schools and community agencies to involve elementary students in service-learning projects.

Now Concordia students post their curriculum, reflections, and photos directly to the GSN online community, which Prof. Teri Langlie says gives students a sense of value to their words, leading to more in-depth reflections as students respond to and learn from one another.

Langlie also poses her reflections to her students online. Those discussions are then open to the elementary teachers, agencies, and service-learning coordinators at the college and district. So anyone might respond with, “That was exactly what I was thinking, and here’s another idea I thought of after reading yours.”

Says Larson, “Scaffolding the process of building curriculum, rather than building it in isolation, creates opportunities for teachers and agencies to watch the process grow through their reactions.”

This project-posting brings service-learning experiences alive for those who were previously unable to understand the depth of work going on — including school administrators.

Langlie says that she most enjoys watching her students through the light-bulb moments. “My students suddenly understand that this is not an add-on to teaching as they begin to see the many possibilities for academic connections.”

Learn more about the Generator School Network.

Anne Larson and Teri Langlie.