Leveraging Virtual Professional Development to Promote Computer Science Education for Multilingual Students

Elementary teachers have little to no professional development in teaching computer science (CS), and there is currently no multiple subject authorization dedicated to the discipline. Very often, elementary teachers who implement CS lessons are learning the subject while teaching their established curriculum. This chapter describes the Elementary Computing for All initiative, a federally funded collaboration between researchers and practitioners designed to develop, implement, test, and refine professional development (PD) that promotes CS for multilingual students in elementary grades. To train participating teachers, we developed an intensive, in-person, weeklong Summer Institute designed to train teachers in the use of CS education for multilingual students. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the PD was shifted to a virtual format. This chapter discusses the design and implementation of a virtual PD that utilized emerging technology tools including a learning management system, synchronous and asynchronous sessions, existing online CS training, collaborative activities, staggered scheduling, and networking opportunities. The chapter also describes findings that demonstrate that providing flexible teacher PD with built-in support helps teachers provide quality CS instruction to multilingual students. Furthermore, these practices can be applied to face-to-face and hybrid PD settings, providing individualized support for new CS teachers.