# Remote Human-Computer Interaction and STEM Teacher Online Training Based on Embedded Internet of Things

Authors: Xinning Wu; Qian Zhang
Journal: Mathematical Problems in Engineering
 (2022)

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## Abstract

In order to expand the concept and form of teacher training, a remote human-computer interaction and STEM teacher online training platform based on the embedded Internet of Things is proposed. Based on the content analysis method, this article sorts out the development status of the current online teacher training platform and points out the shortcomings of the platform in information aggregation, resource construction, content setting, presentation, learning support services, and other aspects. Based on the combination of new concepts and new technologies, an online training platform for STEM teachers is proposed for the construction of the platform from four perspectives: innovative design concepts, enriching platform promotion ideas, developing educational makers, and improving support services, and the results of the use are investigated. The results show that the subjects believe that the STEM teacher online training system has clarified the STEM curriculum design steps, standardized STEM design methods, improved their cooperative learning ability, and cultivated design thinking. Among them, 13 people think that the training system has made STEM design steps clearer, “the design process is clearer,” “it makes me clearer about the whole design process,” and “the course design and development process is clearer.”Conclusion. This platform can provide a reference for online training and professional development of Chinese teachers.


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## Body

## 1. Introduction

In recent years, ’China’s education level has been greatly improved, and the quality of people has been constantly improved. The concept of lifelong learning has been more and more accepted by people. Online education is conducive to overcoming the problem of uneven distribution of educational resources and realizing professional training. At present, some enterprises and public institutions have established online learning platforms for employees, as shown in Figure1. Through the online learning platform to provide targeted teaching, staff work level has been improved, work efficiency has been improved. Online learning platform utilizes Internet technology to implement network teaching and can assist in providing online examinations and online q&A functions, which is an important means of on-the-job education at present [1]. Teachers are an important factor in the development of education, and their knowledge renewal determines the level and quality of education. Therefore, it is necessary to provide better resources and methods for ’teachers’ lifelong learning. Teachers can better improve teaching effects through continuous learning [2]. At present, ’teachers’ later learning is mainly carried out by inviting in and going out. On the one hand, experts will be invited to relevant units for special training. On the other hand, some teachers are sent to universities or training institutions for further study and promotion. While these methods improve ’teachers’ personal ability, they also have disadvantages such as high learning cost, and limited by time and space. Online learning can break through these limitations. Teachers can learn independently through online training and learning platforms so that they can obtain more learning opportunities, learning resources, and teachers [3]. At the same time, through the online training and learning platform, teachers can freely choose learning content, develop personalized learning plans, and enhance their interest in learning with the help of multimedia teaching methods.Figure 1
Online teacher training.


## 2. Literature Review

By analyzing successful STEM classroom practices, Rodrigues and Tomasi proposed the idea of reverse learning design, that is, taking clear STEM course learning objectives as the starting point, STEM learning evaluation design takes priority over STEM teaching activity design, so as to promote the achievement of STEM course learning objectives. At the same time, it is pointed out that interdisciplinary STEM courses designed and integrated should be based on real problems and integrate scientific inquiry, technical literacy, mathematical thinking, and engineering design into the process of problem exploration, analysis, and solution through close cooperation between teachers of different disciplines [4]. Morell and Ksenia Nickolaevna proposed the use of the Universal Learning Design Approach (ULD) in STEM courses. That is, to achieve a deep understanding and innovative application of interdisciplinary concepts and STEM core concepts by designing flexible and diverse ways of information acquisition, activity participation and information expression [5]. Oliveira and Silva believe that teaching skills can be improved by providing new teachers with “simulated practice” teaching practice experience. Similar to the idea of a flight simulator for training pilots, they designed simSchool. Based on the learning theory, the computational models of students’ personality, teachers’ behavior, students’ classroom behavior, and academic performance were established, and the classroom teaching environment was simulated by a simulation engine. Preservice teachers need to analyze the learning needs of different types of virtual students in the virtual classroom, make teaching decisions and evaluate the impact of teaching behavior on student performance [6]. In addition, the researchers also explored the design of social media, Internet technology, and multimedia technology applied to the online teacher practice community. The Video paper designed by Li et al. integrate classroom video and forum functions, allowing teachers to observe classroom teaching, students’ homework samples and lecturers’ teaching plans online, as well as the relevant questions raised by lecturers for the research teachers to discuss and reflect on teaching [7]. Chen et al., from the perspective of social constructivism and learning community, use the famous multiplayer online virtual reality game platform Second Life to create a teaching practice learning environment, in which normal university students play the roles of teachers and students and carry out teaching practice activities such as collaborative teaching design, simulation teaching and lesson evaluation [8]. Sharma et al. point out that an open online learning environment can track learning behaviors. Their nBrowser online platform is based on the architecture of the Intelligent Learning Guidance System (ITS), including domain model, learner model, teaching method model, and user interface model, providing teachers with the task of independently completing curriculum plan design. At the same time, self-planning learning guidance and support in the process of interaction with teachers can be realized through teaching agent [9]. To meet the requirements of the development of national education informatization, a lot of work has been carried out in improving teachers’ information technology application ability, especially in teachers’ information training. Compared with traditional centralized training, online training is characterized by trans-temporal, large-scale, easy implementation, good communication, and low cost and has obvious advantages in knowledge transfer, regional coverage, resource acquisition, cost effectiveness, collaboration, and exchange [10]. Relying on the Internet, advanced educational concepts, high-quality training resources, and innovative teaching technologies can be shared within a short period of time, which has made an important contribution to improving the overall quality of Chinese teachers and narrowing the digital divide between regions. In recent years, online training institutions such as the National network for continuing education of primary and secondary school teachers and the China Teacher Research and Training Network have been set up. Many universities and local government departments have also set up online training platforms. Teacher distance training has gradually moved from the edge to the center, becoming one of the “three carriages” of Teacher training for primary and secondary schools in China, parallel with centralized training and school-based training [11].


## 3. Research Methods

### 3.1. Content Analysis Based on Online Teacher Training Platform

#### 3.1.1. Selection of Research Objects

First of all, “teacher training and Research platform” and “teacher education network” were used as keywords to search for research objects in search engines. After excluding for-profit learning websites, 59 relatively open online teacher training platforms in China were investigated [12]. Public welfare, professionalism, and service are the common characteristics of the platform, which reflect the development status of Online teacher training in China. After that, a comparative analysis is made on 59 platforms one by one. Six influential national online training platforms and four local online training platforms are selected as specific research objects in view of the host and management organization, service scope, service objects, registered users, and results obtained, and their practicability and influence are considered comprehensively. They are supervised by the Department of Teacher Work of the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities, education and training institutions, local education departments, and other units, respectively. They are representative of the platform in terms of organizational structure, technology application, content design, etc., [13].The survey shows that the current online teacher training platform can be divided into two types: portal website and training management. The first-level portal mainly integrates the latest national education news, policies, and trends and gathers famous teachers and high-quality education resources, with rich contents. The second-level portal provides specific training information, training program, training assessment, training results display, and training data statistics according to the needs of specific regional training programs. After logging in, teachers can enter the personal learning space, manage personal information and learn [14]. The training management platforms are generally only for local teachers, and most of them are set up by local education institutions, providing relatively single services and resources.


#### 3.1.2. Establishment of Research Dimension

Through literature analysis, theoretical research, and online training platform investigation, the analysis dimension was established [15]. The research mainly adopts the content analysis method and takes an online training platform as the analysis unit. Based on the functional modules within the platform, a comparative analysis is made: the interface content design and personal learning space design of the platform are taken as the dimension of horizontal analysis, and the development status of the online teacher training platform is analyzed from the aspects of content, communication, management, and service (see Figure 2).Figure 2
Platform analysis dimensions.


### 3.2. Analysis on the Construction of Online Training Platform for Teachers

With the further integration of information technology and learning, online learning continues to surpass the technology itself as a means to develop into an important media that integrates people, technology, and culture. The development of teachers’ online learning cannot be separated from the support of platforms, which often determine the implementation mode and management mode of teachers’ online training and even affect the enthusiasm of teachers in participating in the training and the final training effect [16]. At present, the design and construction of an online training platform for teachers mainly have the following problems.


#### 3.2.1. It Focuses on Gathering Information and Resources and Lacks Effective Classification and Push

“We are submerged in the ocean of network data, but we are suffering from the thirst for knowledge.” The disordered information and its disordered transmission increase the difficulty for users to extract it effectively [17]. Today, with the increasingly close combination of network technology and teacher education, online training gradually shows the absolute advantages of information technology in information transmission, resource sharing, remote interaction, and other aspects. However, with the improvement of teachers’ information literacy, the traditional single divergent information transmission can no longer meet the needs of teachers’ personalized development. Online training means that teachers can easily access effective information and selective learning resources. However, the actual construction display platform has shortcomings in the convergence and presentation of information resources. Although the Settings of information modules are slightly different on different platforms, their types and functions are basically the same (see Table 1), mainly about education news, project dynamics, policy documents, and expert team. The resource module includes training project briefs, teachers’ training logs, excellent works of participating teachers, and other expansion resources [18]. It can be found that (1) the homepage of the national online training platform is rich in content and covers a wide range of areas, while the regional platform only releases news bulletins and other information, without project achievements display and relevant introduction of the training expert team; (2) although the homepage of the platform presents a large amount of content, it lacks in-depth analysis and cannot effectively classify and push resources purposefully according to the learning needs of participating teachers; (3) the search function is not complete, 1/3 of the platforms lack the search function, which causes some troubles for the participating teachers to search information and resources [19].Table 1
Function module Settings of the homepage of online teacher training platform.
ModuleNumber of national platformsNumber of local platformsInformationDynamic64News23Policy23Announcement24Experts51Search33ResourcesBrief61Post30Show20Activity40Homework30Resources30


#### 3.2.2. The Content Is Presented in a Single way and Lacks Multiterminal Adaptive Design

With the rapid development of information technology and communication technology, ubiquitous learning has become the norm. Smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices have become a necessity in People’s Daily life, not only changing the way of interpersonal communication but also affecting people’s way of learning. In addition to the time at home and teaching, teachers’ learning time is relatively fragmented. Therefore, network learning resources should be presented on different mobile terminals in appropriate forms to break through the barriers between different devices, and to realize the fragmentation and ubiquitination of learning, to reduce the interference of resource presentation on teachers’ online learning, and to meet the needs of scattered learning, which is the inevitable trend of the development of online teacher training platforms in the future [20]. At present, online training platforms for teachers are still dominated by traditional web page presentation (see Table 2), lacking adaptive display support for portable device screens, and only a few platforms provide users with mobile clients [21]. It can be seen that although studies on mobile learning and ubiquitous learning continue to deepen, there are few learning platforms that can meet the needs of new training methods, and there is a lack of design and development for mobile terminals. That is, the adaptive display design, the display of web content does not match the screen of mobile devices, which brings inconvenience to teachers in acquiring knowledge and greatly reduces the user adhesion of the platform.Table 2
Content presentation of an online training platform for teachers.
T1T2T3T4T5T6T7T8T9T10Traditional web edition√√√√√√√√√√Mobile terminal edition———√——————Client APP——√———————


#### 3.2.3. The Training Content Is Mainly Prearranged, And Not Strongly Targeted

With the development of new learning theories, such as socialized learning theory and situational learning theory, as well as the transformation of learning methods, people have a new understanding of the nature of learning. Teacher online training platform should not only realize technological innovation and build adaptive seamless learning space but also make breakthroughs in the organization of learning content. Currently, the training content in the online training platform for teachers is basically preset and solidified, created and modified by experts, and presented to the participating teachers, which is a typical one-way information transmission mode of expert production and user consumption and has a poor response to the dynamic and complexity of the real situation [22]. Under this mode of information transmission, the update of training content is too slow, which is not coordinated with the pace of knowledge update and the change of teachers’ needs. Teachers passively receive information, and valuable information generated in the training process can not be fully reflected, let alone shared with other participating teachers. In addition, the content of primary and secondary school teacher training is mainly based on education and teaching theories, teaching methods, and teaching strategies integrated with technology, focusing on how teachers teach, less on how students learn and ignoring the guidance of students’ mental health. The training content is single, lack of cross-disciplinary learning, the content is abstract, disjointed from daily teaching work, poor timeliness, weak pertinence, and other problems always exist. Teachers’ learning needs in the information age are becoming more and more personalized and diversified. The preset training content cannot be flexibly adjusted according to actual teaching and cannot meet the personalized and numerous learning needs of participating teachers.


#### 3.2.4. Limited Resource Expansion and Slow Replenishment

Nowadays, knowledge is updated faster and faster, and learning is no longer about mastering existing knowledge. Through social networks, learners can not only get the resources they need but also discover other relevant content, and then learn knowledge and wisdom from other channels or learners. In addition to providing teachers with basic knowledge, online teacher training is necessary to develop resources such as recommendation of excellent cases, presentation of famous teachers, and introduction of learning software and links of relevant content, as well as the construction of extended content other than training classes [23]. However, the current online training platforms for teachers are not enough to provide resources for expansion (as shown in Figure 3). The platforms with expansion resource modules account for only half of the total number of the survey. The content is mainly about the display and sharing of excellent homework, lacking the support of learning tools. The analysis shows that the development resource module construction of the national platform is relatively complete, while the local platform is very short, with only 1 case, and these resources are mainly from students’ sharing and uploading. Therefore, in terms of resource development, national platforms have been gradually improved, while local platforms are still in the stage of starting from scratch. Although each region has established its own teacher training institutions in order to improve the professional ability of teachers, the updating and supplementing of resources is still in its infancy.Figure 3
Resources construction of online training platform for teachers.


#### 3.2.5. Insufficient Learning Support and Personalized Service

In addition to rich learning resources, learning support is also one of the important factors to ensure the quality of online teacher training. The purpose of providing learning support is to help, guide, and promote learners’ autonomous learning and improve the quality and effectiveness of online training. As an important part of online learning, learning support is divided into academic support and nonacademic support, including content support, technical support, resource support, process support, activity support, communication support, evaluation support, management support, and so on. In addition to the content and resource support discussed above, the function construction of the online teacher training platform in terms of communication, service, evaluation, and management is not satisfactory (see Table3).Table 3
Status quo of learning support service construction of online teacher training platform.
Service typeSupport functionsLack of functionalityCommunication supportForums, reviews, online seminarsSynchronous interaction, collaborative learning, maker spaceService supportStudy guide, statistical inquiry, consultation, and q&AIntelligent search, learning tools, learning analysisEvaluation supportExams, assignments, work, attendanceLearning monitoring, process evaluation, incentive mechanismManagement supportPersonal information, course informationIndependent course selection, personal customization, dynamic adjustmentIn a word, due to the characteristics of openness, high efficiency, and interactivity, the network training platform shows absolute advantages in teacher training. However, with the development of online training, the disadvantages of the platform become more and more prominent and gradually hinder the use of teachers. For example, its ease-of-use, compatibility, and interactive functions are increasingly unable to meet the needs of participating teachers. In addition, the injection training method, unreasonable organizational structure, and single evaluation management mode are the current online teacher training platform to solve the problems.


## 3.1. Content Analysis Based on Online Teacher Training Platform

### 3.1.1. Selection of Research Objects

First of all, “teacher training and Research platform” and “teacher education network” were used as keywords to search for research objects in search engines. After excluding for-profit learning websites, 59 relatively open online teacher training platforms in China were investigated [12]. Public welfare, professionalism, and service are the common characteristics of the platform, which reflect the development status of Online teacher training in China. After that, a comparative analysis is made on 59 platforms one by one. Six influential national online training platforms and four local online training platforms are selected as specific research objects in view of the host and management organization, service scope, service objects, registered users, and results obtained, and their practicability and influence are considered comprehensively. They are supervised by the Department of Teacher Work of the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities, education and training institutions, local education departments, and other units, respectively. They are representative of the platform in terms of organizational structure, technology application, content design, etc., [13].The survey shows that the current online teacher training platform can be divided into two types: portal website and training management. The first-level portal mainly integrates the latest national education news, policies, and trends and gathers famous teachers and high-quality education resources, with rich contents. The second-level portal provides specific training information, training program, training assessment, training results display, and training data statistics according to the needs of specific regional training programs. After logging in, teachers can enter the personal learning space, manage personal information and learn [14]. The training management platforms are generally only for local teachers, and most of them are set up by local education institutions, providing relatively single services and resources.


### 3.1.2. Establishment of Research Dimension

Through literature analysis, theoretical research, and online training platform investigation, the analysis dimension was established [15]. The research mainly adopts the content analysis method and takes an online training platform as the analysis unit. Based on the functional modules within the platform, a comparative analysis is made: the interface content design and personal learning space design of the platform are taken as the dimension of horizontal analysis, and the development status of the online teacher training platform is analyzed from the aspects of content, communication, management, and service (see Figure 2).Figure 2
Platform analysis dimensions.


## 3.1.1. Selection of Research Objects

First of all, “teacher training and Research platform” and “teacher education network” were used as keywords to search for research objects in search engines. After excluding for-profit learning websites, 59 relatively open online teacher training platforms in China were investigated [12]. Public welfare, professionalism, and service are the common characteristics of the platform, which reflect the development status of Online teacher training in China. After that, a comparative analysis is made on 59 platforms one by one. Six influential national online training platforms and four local online training platforms are selected as specific research objects in view of the host and management organization, service scope, service objects, registered users, and results obtained, and their practicability and influence are considered comprehensively. They are supervised by the Department of Teacher Work of the Ministry of Education, colleges and universities, education and training institutions, local education departments, and other units, respectively. They are representative of the platform in terms of organizational structure, technology application, content design, etc., [13].The survey shows that the current online teacher training platform can be divided into two types: portal website and training management. The first-level portal mainly integrates the latest national education news, policies, and trends and gathers famous teachers and high-quality education resources, with rich contents. The second-level portal provides specific training information, training program, training assessment, training results display, and training data statistics according to the needs of specific regional training programs. After logging in, teachers can enter the personal learning space, manage personal information and learn [14]. The training management platforms are generally only for local teachers, and most of them are set up by local education institutions, providing relatively single services and resources.


## 3.1.2. Establishment of Research Dimension

Through literature analysis, theoretical research, and online training platform investigation, the analysis dimension was established [15]. The research mainly adopts the content analysis method and takes an online training platform as the analysis unit. Based on the functional modules within the platform, a comparative analysis is made: the interface content design and personal learning space design of the platform are taken as the dimension of horizontal analysis, and the development status of the online teacher training platform is analyzed from the aspects of content, communication, management, and service (see Figure 2).Figure 2
Platform analysis dimensions.


## 3.2. Analysis on the Construction of Online Training Platform for Teachers

With the further integration of information technology and learning, online learning continues to surpass the technology itself as a means to develop into an important media that integrates people, technology, and culture. The development of teachers’ online learning cannot be separated from the support of platforms, which often determine the implementation mode and management mode of teachers’ online training and even affect the enthusiasm of teachers in participating in the training and the final training effect [16]. At present, the design and construction of an online training platform for teachers mainly have the following problems.


### 3.2.1. It Focuses on Gathering Information and Resources and Lacks Effective Classification and Push

“We are submerged in the ocean of network data, but we are suffering from the thirst for knowledge.” The disordered information and its disordered transmission increase the difficulty for users to extract it effectively [17]. Today, with the increasingly close combination of network technology and teacher education, online training gradually shows the absolute advantages of information technology in information transmission, resource sharing, remote interaction, and other aspects. However, with the improvement of teachers’ information literacy, the traditional single divergent information transmission can no longer meet the needs of teachers’ personalized development. Online training means that teachers can easily access effective information and selective learning resources. However, the actual construction display platform has shortcomings in the convergence and presentation of information resources. Although the Settings of information modules are slightly different on different platforms, their types and functions are basically the same (see Table 1), mainly about education news, project dynamics, policy documents, and expert team. The resource module includes training project briefs, teachers’ training logs, excellent works of participating teachers, and other expansion resources [18]. It can be found that (1) the homepage of the national online training platform is rich in content and covers a wide range of areas, while the regional platform only releases news bulletins and other information, without project achievements display and relevant introduction of the training expert team; (2) although the homepage of the platform presents a large amount of content, it lacks in-depth analysis and cannot effectively classify and push resources purposefully according to the learning needs of participating teachers; (3) the search function is not complete, 1/3 of the platforms lack the search function, which causes some troubles for the participating teachers to search information and resources [19].Table 1
Function module Settings of the homepage of online teacher training platform.
ModuleNumber of national platformsNumber of local platformsInformationDynamic64News23Policy23Announcement24Experts51Search33ResourcesBrief61Post30Show20Activity40Homework30Resources30


### 3.2.2. The Content Is Presented in a Single way and Lacks Multiterminal Adaptive Design

With the rapid development of information technology and communication technology, ubiquitous learning has become the norm. Smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices have become a necessity in People’s Daily life, not only changing the way of interpersonal communication but also affecting people’s way of learning. In addition to the time at home and teaching, teachers’ learning time is relatively fragmented. Therefore, network learning resources should be presented on different mobile terminals in appropriate forms to break through the barriers between different devices, and to realize the fragmentation and ubiquitination of learning, to reduce the interference of resource presentation on teachers’ online learning, and to meet the needs of scattered learning, which is the inevitable trend of the development of online teacher training platforms in the future [20]. At present, online training platforms for teachers are still dominated by traditional web page presentation (see Table 2), lacking adaptive display support for portable device screens, and only a few platforms provide users with mobile clients [21]. It can be seen that although studies on mobile learning and ubiquitous learning continue to deepen, there are few learning platforms that can meet the needs of new training methods, and there is a lack of design and development for mobile terminals. That is, the adaptive display design, the display of web content does not match the screen of mobile devices, which brings inconvenience to teachers in acquiring knowledge and greatly reduces the user adhesion of the platform.Table 2
Content presentation of an online training platform for teachers.
T1T2T3T4T5T6T7T8T9T10Traditional web edition√√√√√√√√√√Mobile terminal edition———√——————Client APP——√———————


### 3.2.3. The Training Content Is Mainly Prearranged, And Not Strongly Targeted

With the development of new learning theories, such as socialized learning theory and situational learning theory, as well as the transformation of learning methods, people have a new understanding of the nature of learning. Teacher online training platform should not only realize technological innovation and build adaptive seamless learning space but also make breakthroughs in the organization of learning content. Currently, the training content in the online training platform for teachers is basically preset and solidified, created and modified by experts, and presented to the participating teachers, which is a typical one-way information transmission mode of expert production and user consumption and has a poor response to the dynamic and complexity of the real situation [22]. Under this mode of information transmission, the update of training content is too slow, which is not coordinated with the pace of knowledge update and the change of teachers’ needs. Teachers passively receive information, and valuable information generated in the training process can not be fully reflected, let alone shared with other participating teachers. In addition, the content of primary and secondary school teacher training is mainly based on education and teaching theories, teaching methods, and teaching strategies integrated with technology, focusing on how teachers teach, less on how students learn and ignoring the guidance of students’ mental health. The training content is single, lack of cross-disciplinary learning, the content is abstract, disjointed from daily teaching work, poor timeliness, weak pertinence, and other problems always exist. Teachers’ learning needs in the information age are becoming more and more personalized and diversified. The preset training content cannot be flexibly adjusted according to actual teaching and cannot meet the personalized and numerous learning needs of participating teachers.


### 3.2.4. Limited Resource Expansion and Slow Replenishment

Nowadays, knowledge is updated faster and faster, and learning is no longer about mastering existing knowledge. Through social networks, learners can not only get the resources they need but also discover other relevant content, and then learn knowledge and wisdom from other channels or learners. In addition to providing teachers with basic knowledge, online teacher training is necessary to develop resources such as recommendation of excellent cases, presentation of famous teachers, and introduction of learning software and links of relevant content, as well as the construction of extended content other than training classes [23]. However, the current online training platforms for teachers are not enough to provide resources for expansion (as shown in Figure 3). The platforms with expansion resource modules account for only half of the total number of the survey. The content is mainly about the display and sharing of excellent homework, lacking the support of learning tools. The analysis shows that the development resource module construction of the national platform is relatively complete, while the local platform is very short, with only 1 case, and these resources are mainly from students’ sharing and uploading. Therefore, in terms of resource development, national platforms have been gradually improved, while local platforms are still in the stage of starting from scratch. Although each region has established its own teacher training institutions in order to improve the professional ability of teachers, the updating and supplementing of resources is still in its infancy.Figure 3
Resources construction of online training platform for teachers.


### 3.2.5. Insufficient Learning Support and Personalized Service

In addition to rich learning resources, learning support is also one of the important factors to ensure the quality of online teacher training. The purpose of providing learning support is to help, guide, and promote learners’ autonomous learning and improve the quality and effectiveness of online training. As an important part of online learning, learning support is divided into academic support and nonacademic support, including content support, technical support, resource support, process support, activity support, communication support, evaluation support, management support, and so on. In addition to the content and resource support discussed above, the function construction of the online teacher training platform in terms of communication, service, evaluation, and management is not satisfactory (see Table3).Table 3
Status quo of learning support service construction of online teacher training platform.
Service typeSupport functionsLack of functionalityCommunication supportForums, reviews, online seminarsSynchronous interaction, collaborative learning, maker spaceService supportStudy guide, statistical inquiry, consultation, and q&AIntelligent search, learning tools, learning analysisEvaluation supportExams, assignments, work, attendanceLearning monitoring, process evaluation, incentive mechanismManagement supportPersonal information, course informationIndependent course selection, personal customization, dynamic adjustmentIn a word, due to the characteristics of openness, high efficiency, and interactivity, the network training platform shows absolute advantages in teacher training. However, with the development of online training, the disadvantages of the platform become more and more prominent and gradually hinder the use of teachers. For example, its ease-of-use, compatibility, and interactive functions are increasingly unable to meet the needs of participating teachers. In addition, the injection training method, unreasonable organizational structure, and single evaluation management mode are the current online teacher training platform to solve the problems.


## 3.2.1. It Focuses on Gathering Information and Resources and Lacks Effective Classification and Push

“We are submerged in the ocean of network data, but we are suffering from the thirst for knowledge.” The disordered information and its disordered transmission increase the difficulty for users to extract it effectively [17]. Today, with the increasingly close combination of network technology and teacher education, online training gradually shows the absolute advantages of information technology in information transmission, resource sharing, remote interaction, and other aspects. However, with the improvement of teachers’ information literacy, the traditional single divergent information transmission can no longer meet the needs of teachers’ personalized development. Online training means that teachers can easily access effective information and selective learning resources. However, the actual construction display platform has shortcomings in the convergence and presentation of information resources. Although the Settings of information modules are slightly different on different platforms, their types and functions are basically the same (see Table 1), mainly about education news, project dynamics, policy documents, and expert team. The resource module includes training project briefs, teachers’ training logs, excellent works of participating teachers, and other expansion resources [18]. It can be found that (1) the homepage of the national online training platform is rich in content and covers a wide range of areas, while the regional platform only releases news bulletins and other information, without project achievements display and relevant introduction of the training expert team; (2) although the homepage of the platform presents a large amount of content, it lacks in-depth analysis and cannot effectively classify and push resources purposefully according to the learning needs of participating teachers; (3) the search function is not complete, 1/3 of the platforms lack the search function, which causes some troubles for the participating teachers to search information and resources [19].Table 1
Function module Settings of the homepage of online teacher training platform.
ModuleNumber of national platformsNumber of local platformsInformationDynamic64News23Policy23Announcement24Experts51Search33ResourcesBrief61Post30Show20Activity40Homework30Resources30


## 3.2.2. The Content Is Presented in a Single way and Lacks Multiterminal Adaptive Design

With the rapid development of information technology and communication technology, ubiquitous learning has become the norm. Smart phones, tablets, and other mobile devices have become a necessity in People’s Daily life, not only changing the way of interpersonal communication but also affecting people’s way of learning. In addition to the time at home and teaching, teachers’ learning time is relatively fragmented. Therefore, network learning resources should be presented on different mobile terminals in appropriate forms to break through the barriers between different devices, and to realize the fragmentation and ubiquitination of learning, to reduce the interference of resource presentation on teachers’ online learning, and to meet the needs of scattered learning, which is the inevitable trend of the development of online teacher training platforms in the future [20]. At present, online training platforms for teachers are still dominated by traditional web page presentation (see Table 2), lacking adaptive display support for portable device screens, and only a few platforms provide users with mobile clients [21]. It can be seen that although studies on mobile learning and ubiquitous learning continue to deepen, there are few learning platforms that can meet the needs of new training methods, and there is a lack of design and development for mobile terminals. That is, the adaptive display design, the display of web content does not match the screen of mobile devices, which brings inconvenience to teachers in acquiring knowledge and greatly reduces the user adhesion of the platform.Table 2
Content presentation of an online training platform for teachers.
T1T2T3T4T5T6T7T8T9T10Traditional web edition√√√√√√√√√√Mobile terminal edition———√——————Client APP——√———————


## 3.2.3. The Training Content Is Mainly Prearranged, And Not Strongly Targeted

With the development of new learning theories, such as socialized learning theory and situational learning theory, as well as the transformation of learning methods, people have a new understanding of the nature of learning. Teacher online training platform should not only realize technological innovation and build adaptive seamless learning space but also make breakthroughs in the organization of learning content. Currently, the training content in the online training platform for teachers is basically preset and solidified, created and modified by experts, and presented to the participating teachers, which is a typical one-way information transmission mode of expert production and user consumption and has a poor response to the dynamic and complexity of the real situation [22]. Under this mode of information transmission, the update of training content is too slow, which is not coordinated with the pace of knowledge update and the change of teachers’ needs. Teachers passively receive information, and valuable information generated in the training process can not be fully reflected, let alone shared with other participating teachers. In addition, the content of primary and secondary school teacher training is mainly based on education and teaching theories, teaching methods, and teaching strategies integrated with technology, focusing on how teachers teach, less on how students learn and ignoring the guidance of students’ mental health. The training content is single, lack of cross-disciplinary learning, the content is abstract, disjointed from daily teaching work, poor timeliness, weak pertinence, and other problems always exist. Teachers’ learning needs in the information age are becoming more and more personalized and diversified. The preset training content cannot be flexibly adjusted according to actual teaching and cannot meet the personalized and numerous learning needs of participating teachers.


## 3.2.4. Limited Resource Expansion and Slow Replenishment

Nowadays, knowledge is updated faster and faster, and learning is no longer about mastering existing knowledge. Through social networks, learners can not only get the resources they need but also discover other relevant content, and then learn knowledge and wisdom from other channels or learners. In addition to providing teachers with basic knowledge, online teacher training is necessary to develop resources such as recommendation of excellent cases, presentation of famous teachers, and introduction of learning software and links of relevant content, as well as the construction of extended content other than training classes [23]. However, the current online training platforms for teachers are not enough to provide resources for expansion (as shown in Figure 3). The platforms with expansion resource modules account for only half of the total number of the survey. The content is mainly about the display and sharing of excellent homework, lacking the support of learning tools. The analysis shows that the development resource module construction of the national platform is relatively complete, while the local platform is very short, with only 1 case, and these resources are mainly from students’ sharing and uploading. Therefore, in terms of resource development, national platforms have been gradually improved, while local platforms are still in the stage of starting from scratch. Although each region has established its own teacher training institutions in order to improve the professional ability of teachers, the updating and supplementing of resources is still in its infancy.Figure 3
Resources construction of online training platform for teachers.


## 3.2.5. Insufficient Learning Support and Personalized Service

In addition to rich learning resources, learning support is also one of the important factors to ensure the quality of online teacher training. The purpose of providing learning support is to help, guide, and promote learners’ autonomous learning and improve the quality and effectiveness of online training. As an important part of online learning, learning support is divided into academic support and nonacademic support, including content support, technical support, resource support, process support, activity support, communication support, evaluation support, management support, and so on. In addition to the content and resource support discussed above, the function construction of the online teacher training platform in terms of communication, service, evaluation, and management is not satisfactory (see Table3).Table 3
Status quo of learning support service construction of online teacher training platform.
Service typeSupport functionsLack of functionalityCommunication supportForums, reviews, online seminarsSynchronous interaction, collaborative learning, maker spaceService supportStudy guide, statistical inquiry, consultation, and q&AIntelligent search, learning tools, learning analysisEvaluation supportExams, assignments, work, attendanceLearning monitoring, process evaluation, incentive mechanismManagement supportPersonal information, course informationIndependent course selection, personal customization, dynamic adjustmentIn a word, due to the characteristics of openness, high efficiency, and interactivity, the network training platform shows absolute advantages in teacher training. However, with the development of online training, the disadvantages of the platform become more and more prominent and gradually hinder the use of teachers. For example, its ease-of-use, compatibility, and interactive functions are increasingly unable to meet the needs of participating teachers. In addition, the injection training method, unreasonable organizational structure, and single evaluation management mode are the current online teacher training platform to solve the problems.


## 4. Result Analysis

Based on the results of the first round of teaching practice, the research improved the online training system for STEM teachers and replaced the original text-based STEM learning design method with a visual learning design tool, aiming to further improve the learning design ability of normal university students and their understanding of STEM teaching method. The research will carry out the teaching practice of the second round of online training for STEM teachers, and investigate the influence of the improved online training system for STEM teachers on the teaching design ability and design thinking level of preservice teachers through questionnaires before and after the issuance. The questionnaire was used to understand the usability, ease of use, behavioral intention of using the STEM teacher online training system, and the views and suggestions of preservice teachers on the training system. This study was conducted on 40 students in their second year who majored in educational technology in a university. Students participate in STEM teacher training programs as preservice teachers by using the STEM teacher online training platform that has been developed. The second round of practice was conducted from October 2019 to January 2020 and lasted for ten weeks. The questionnaire of the second round of the experiment was sent online through the system task mail. Thirty-eight questionnaires were collected, of which 34 were valid, with an effective rate of 89.47%. Thirty-four questionnaires were collected after the experiment, and 34 were valid, with an effective rate of 100%. Among them, a total of 34 normal university students completed the pre - and post-test two questionnaires. 40 questionnaires were collected for technical acceptance, and 39 were valid, with an effective rate of 97.5%. The questionnaire data will be statistically analyzed by SPSS Statistics software. Paired sample statistics and paired sample test will be used to describe the changes of TPACK level and design thinking level of 34 normal university students before and after training. The technology acceptance questionnaire data will conduct a descriptive statistical analysis of the core variables of the technology acceptance model and summarize and analyze the answers to open questions.The basic idea of paired samplet test is to assume that population X1 follows a normal distribution Nμ1,σ12, and population X2 follows a normal distribution Nμ2,σ22. Samples x11,x12,…,x1n and x21,x22,…,x2n are extracted from these two populations, respectively, and the two samples are paired with each other. It is required to test whether μ1 and μ2 are significantly different. The specific steps are as follows:


### 4.1. Introduce Variables

A new random variableY=X1−X2 is introduced, and the corresponding sample value is y1,y2,…,yn, where yi=x1i−x2ii=1,2,…,n.


### 4.2. Establish Hypotheses

As shown in the following formula:(1)H0:μY=0.


### 4.3. Calculation Formula and Significance

(2)t=y¯Sy/n.Here,y¯=∑i=1nyi/n is the average of the difference values of paired samples; Sy=∑i=1nyi−y¯2/n−1 is the standard deviation of the difference of paired samples; n is the number of paired samples.The statistict obeys the t-distribution with n−1 degree of freedom under the true null hypothesis（μY=0）.The analysis results of the influence of the system on the design course of the subjects are shown in Figure3. According to the statistics, the subjects believe that the online TRAINING system for STEM teachers has clarified the steps of STEM curriculum design, standardized STEM design methods, improved their cooperative learning ability, and cultivated design thinking. Among them, 13 people think that the training system has made STEM design steps clear, “the design process is clearer,” “it makes me more clear about the whole design process,” and “the course design and development process is clearer.” Nine people think that the training system can cultivate the design thinking. They mentioned that “problems will be considered from more angles when designing courses,” “the design course will go deep into the subject knowledge,” “focus on student-centered design course,” “design is a coherent process, and the previous design content will be modified in the subsequent design,” and “cultivate the overall thinking of course design.” Six people thought that the training system could standardize STEM design methods, “master the standardized design template,” “have a certain understanding of the standardized requirements of STEM design,” and “standardize the STEM design process.” Three people think that the training system can improve cooperative learning ability, “group communication enables me to learn cooperative learning,” and “I learn a lot from team members in the process of sharing communication”.


## 4.1. Introduce Variables

A new random variableY=X1−X2 is introduced, and the corresponding sample value is y1,y2,…,yn, where yi=x1i−x2ii=1,2,…,n.


## 4.2. Establish Hypotheses

As shown in the following formula:(1)H0:μY=0.


## 4.3. Calculation Formula and Significance

(2)t=y¯Sy/n.Here,y¯=∑i=1nyi/n is the average of the difference values of paired samples; Sy=∑i=1nyi−y¯2/n−1 is the standard deviation of the difference of paired samples; n is the number of paired samples.The statistict obeys the t-distribution with n−1 degree of freedom under the true null hypothesis（μY=0）.The analysis results of the influence of the system on the design course of the subjects are shown in Figure3. According to the statistics, the subjects believe that the online TRAINING system for STEM teachers has clarified the steps of STEM curriculum design, standardized STEM design methods, improved their cooperative learning ability, and cultivated design thinking. Among them, 13 people think that the training system has made STEM design steps clear, “the design process is clearer,” “it makes me more clear about the whole design process,” and “the course design and development process is clearer.” Nine people think that the training system can cultivate the design thinking. They mentioned that “problems will be considered from more angles when designing courses,” “the design course will go deep into the subject knowledge,” “focus on student-centered design course,” “design is a coherent process, and the previous design content will be modified in the subsequent design,” and “cultivate the overall thinking of course design.” Six people thought that the training system could standardize STEM design methods, “master the standardized design template,” “have a certain understanding of the standardized requirements of STEM design,” and “standardize the STEM design process.” Three people think that the training system can improve cooperative learning ability, “group communication enables me to learn cooperative learning,” and “I learn a lot from team members in the process of sharing communication”.


## 5. Conclusion

With the development and application of information technology, online training has gradually replaced traditional centralized training and become the main way of professional improvement of teachers. The design and construction of an online teacher training platform is an important factor that affects the effect of teacher training. In fact, the essence of an online training platform is “content + service.” Quality content is the foundation, personalized service is the guarantee, content, and service is the core of online training platform construction. Under the background of education informationization, online teacher training in China is developing rapidly. But the construction of platforms has not kept pace with actual demand. Online training platform for the construction of the future teachers, therefore, should be the fusion of advanced education idea and information technology, to create a network, digital, mobile, and personalized teachers online training environment, breakthrough time and space limit, break from online, really change the traditional training pattern of indoctrination, implementation of teacher training of generalization, socialization, mobile, and service. After two rounds of training, we found that the online STEM teacher training system can effectively improve the TPACK level and design thinking level of preservice teachers. After the improvement of the training program and system, the online STEM teacher system can significantly improve the seven dimensions of TPACK of preservice teachers and thus promote the improvement of their STEM teaching design ability at the TPACK level. At the level of design thinking, the system can effectively promote the level of design practice and design tendency.



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*Source: 2896481-2022-08-29.xml*