MET:Online Teacher Professional Development

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This page was authored by Ryosuke Suzuki (2011) and was revised by Sabrina Quigley (2012)

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Online teacher professional development uses the Internet as the primary forum for information sharing and knowledge transmission and construction [1] for educators and administrators to experience a process that provides participants the opportunity to attain new resources, skills, experiences, knowledge and training in their specific disciplines which will benefit and support them in their professional roles. Online teacher professional development may focus on effective assessment methods, classroom management strategies, lesson designing and technology implementation.

According to Richardson (2001), online teacher professional development “offers enormous opportunities to customize learning around individual teacher needs and to make learning convenient for teachers.” [2]


Professional Development Model

Turcsányi-Szabó (2008) argues that "The essence of online learning is in its collaborative nature, that simulates face-to-face classroom activities by providing virtual learning environment (e.g. Moodle, BSCW, Blackboard, WebCT),collaborative teaching/learning environments to share and communicate online (by using e-mail, mailing lists, chats, forums or videoconferences), use virtual laboratories to perform experiments and facilitate assessment by application of automatic assessment tools, portfolios and Web-logs."[3] OPD offers a learning opportunity for participants using various online resources, such as web pages, web-based readings, technology-enhanced activities, online video clips, and facilitated online discussions with other educators.

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Online Professional Development (OPD) may be asynchronous or synchronous in nature. Asynchronous learning opportunities have been developed to support online interactions by allowing users to organize discussions, post and reply to messages and upload and access multimedia at their own pace based on their individual schedules. It offers flexibility and makes use of tools such as YouTube, Wikis, Google Docs, Moodle, WebCT and Blackboard. Synchronous learning opportunities have been developed to be interactive and make use of tools such as text and voice chat, videoconferencing, teleconferencing and online meetings in virtual spaces where discussions can be facilitated among groups of participants at the same time. Popular tools include Skype, MSN Web Messenger and Adobe Connect. Some online professional development opportunities may use a combination of asynchronous and synchronous learning tools.

Haddad and Draxler (2002) identify four models of online professional development which are the:

  • Course Supplement Model

In this model online resources are used to complement traditional face-to-face teacher professional development.

  • Online Lecture Model

This model is used primarily as a one way delivery method of high-quality content in conjunction with some instruction from an instructor.

  • Online Correspondence Model

This model uses fewer online resources while offering increased personal contact between the participant and the instructor.

  • Online Collaborative Model

This model emphasizes the collaboration among participants through activities using technology and expert facilitation.[4] In education, this model is often referred to as an online professional learning community which is considered to be particularly well suited for educators.[5] The learning community model emphasizes the role of community of practice in sustaining teachers' participation.

Characteristics of Successful Online Professional Development

Professional development of teachers is considered be to the keystone to educational improvement.[6] Killion & Williams (2009) state that "in order to reflect the current research, to change teaching practice, and to increase student achievement, professional development must be ongoing, job embedded, relevant to the teacher's instructional needs, and collaborative in nature. The advent of quality online professional learning combined with in-person, peer-based professional learning communities, has enabled this approach to professional development to have the greatest success for increasing teaching quality and student learning." [7]

Whether online or face-to-face, there are important factors that contribute to a successful professional development experience. The professional development must be:

  • Aligned with the curriculum
  • Meaningful and useful for the participants' current professional situations
  • Well facilitated
  • Teamed with on-going support and follow-up

The Center for Online Professional Education (COPE) at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) outlines elements of successful online professional development (OPD) as follows:

  • Assess local professional development needs and develop an OPD plan based on these needs.
  • Connect OPD with other ongoing, face-to-face professional development activities.
  • Carefully select and train OPD specialist team members.
  • Build a strong local team.
  • Develop incentives.
  • Publicize the OPD program and involve local stakeholders.
  • Provide readily available and reliable access to technology and support.
  • Foster a rich, interactive online learning community.
  • Integrate online workshops with face-to-face meetings.[8]

Designing and implementing effective OPD requires a commitment of money, time and effort. OPD must be carefully designed and implemented in order to provide successful learning opportunities for educators. According to Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit, and McCloskey (2009), many research studies on online teacher professional development evaluate OPD in four categories: program design, program effectiveness, program technical design, and learner interactions.[9]

Benefits of Online Professional Development

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OPD is seen as an alternative method to deliver effective learning opportunities for educators and administrators. Treacy, Kleiman, and Peterson (2002) list the following as the benefits of OPD programs.

  • Increased access to meet individual learning goals.
  • Experience with the use of technology as a learner.
  • Use of rich multimedia resources and new technologies.
  • Anytime, anyplace learning.
  • Ability to meet special needs.
  • Collaborative learning opportunities with other educators.
  • Direct impact on classroom practice.
  • New opportunities for follow-up.[10]

For the participant and provider, the online learning format tends to be cost-effective and more appealing overall; however, several researchers have concerns regarding pedagogical quality and student satisfaction online. [11]

Criticism of Online Professional Development

Traditional professional development initiatives are often criticized for their failure to produce significant changes in either teaching practice or student learning.[12] Teachers often find the need to invest a large amount of their own time outside of organized training in the traditional face-to-face professional development. Although OPD offers a solution to the rigid scheduling problems of traditional professional development, it is criticized for other reasons which include:

  • The loss of face-to-face contact as stated by Dave Hottenstein, a former high school administrator, "a lot of people both in professional development and in school administration fear that online professional development will eliminate face-to-face professional development." [13]
  • A narrow focus concentrated too much on the needs of individuals rather than the needs of the whole school .[14]
  • The accountability of teacher participants
  • The reliance on teacher participants having basic computer skills and confidence in using technology [15] Karlene Lee, a staff developer in Clark County, Nevada, states her concern that "There really are people out there who don't know how to move a mouse. And there really are teachers who are afraid of computers. As they move to online, we need to be ready to hold their hands as they go through it." [16]
  • Not all online professional development instructors implement a consistent model of interaction [17]

Notes

  1. ↑ Holmes, A., & MacLeod, A.,& Signer, B. (2010). Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. Professional development at a distance: A mixed-method study exploring inservice teachers' views on presence online, 27 (2), 76-85.
  2. ↑ Richardson, J. (2001). Online Professional Development. The School Administrator. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=10710&terms=joan+richardson
  3. ↑ Turcsányi-Szabó, M. (2008). International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. Springer international handbooks of education, 20 (7), 747-760, DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9_43
  4. ↑ Turcsányi-Szabó, M. (2008). International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. Springer international handbooks of education, 20 (7), 747-760, DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9_43
  5. ↑ Treacy, B., Kleiman, G., & Peterson, K. (2002). Successful online professional development. Learning and leading with technology, 30 (1), 42-47.
  6. ↑ Hawley, W., & Valli, L. (1999). The essentials for effective professional development: A new consensus. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 127-150). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  7. ↑ Killion, J. & Williams, C. (2009). ONLINE Professional Development 2009. Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 16(4), 8-10.
  8. ↑ Treacy, B., Kleiman, G., & Peterson, K. (2002). Successful Online Professional Development. Learning & Leading with Technology, 30 (1), 42-47.
  9. ↑ Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., Whitehouse, P., Breit, L., & McCloskey, E. M. (2009). A Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development. Journal of Teacher Education, 60 (1), 8-19.
  10. ↑ Treacy, B., Kleiman, G., & Peterson, K. (2002). Successful Online Professional Development. Learning & Leading with Technology, 30 (1), 42-47.
  11. ↑ Holmes, A., & MacLeod, A.,& Signer, B. (2010). Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. Professional development at a distance: A mixed-method study exploring inservice teachers' views on presence online, 27 (2), 76-85.
  12. ↑ Feist, L. (2003). Removing Barriers to Professional Development. T.H.E Journal, 30 (11), 30-36.
  13. ↑ Richardson, J. (2001). Online Professional Development. The School Administrator. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=10710&terms=joan+richardson
  14. ↑ Richardson, J. (2001). Online Professional Development. The School Administrator. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=10710&terms=joan+richardson
  15. ↑ Sandholtz, J. (2001). Learning to teach with technology: A comparison of teacher development programs. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 9(3), 349–374.
  16. ↑ Richardson, J. (2001). Online Professional Development. The School Administrator. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=10710&terms=joan+richardson
  17. ↑ Holmes, A., & MacLeod, A.,& Signer, B. (2010). Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. Professional development at a distance: A mixed-method study exploring inservice teachers' views on presence online, 27 (2), 76-85.

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References

  • Dede, C., Ketelhut, D. J., Whitehouse, P., Breit, L., & McCloskey, E. M. (2009). A research agenda for online teacher professional development. Journal of Teacher Education, 60 (1), 8-19.
  • Feist, L. (2003). Removing barriers to professional development. T.H.E Journal, 30 (11), 30-36.
  • Hawley, W., & Valli, L. (1999). The essentials for effective professional development: A new consensus. In L. Darling-Hammond & G. Sykes (Eds.), Teaching as the learning profession: Handbook of policy and practice (pp. 127-150). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
  • Holmes, A., & MacLeod, A.,& Signer, B. (2010). Professional development at a distance: A mixed-method study exploring inservice teachers' views on presence online.Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education. 27 (2), 76-85.
  • Henderson, M. (2007). Sustaining online teacher professional development through community design. Campus-wide Information Systems, 24(3), 162-173.
  • Kabilan, M. K. (2004). Online professional development: A literature analysis of teacher competency. Journal of Computing in Teacher Education. 21 (2), 51-57.
  • Killion, J. & Williams, C. (2009). Online professional development. Multimedia and Internet at Schools, 16(4), 8-10.
  • Richardson, J. (2001). Online professional development. The School Administrator. Retrieved from http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=10710&terms=joan+richardson
  • Sandholtz, J. (2001). Learning to teach with technology: A comparison of teacher development programs. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 9(3), 349–374.
  • Turcsányi-Szabó, M. (2008). International handbook of information technology in primary and secondary education. Springer International Handbooks of Education, 20 (7), 747-760, DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9_43
  • Treacy, B., Kleiman, G., & Peterson, K. (2002). Successful online professional development. Learning and Leading with Technology, 30 (1), 42-47.
  • Vrasidas, C. & Zembylas, M. (2004). Online professional development: lessons from the field. Education and Training, 46 (6/7), 326-334.


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