Transcript Online Teaching and Learning

Online Learning to Support
Educator Professional
Development
Barbara Treacy
i3 Grantees Meeting
October 15, 2012
Questions
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What are the advantages/challenges of online PD?
What have we learned about making online PD
effective? What are some examples?
How do we build effective online PD, learning
communities and coaching models? How do we keep
it dynamic and engaging?
How do we prepare teachers to facilitate and design
online PD?
What technologies should we use?
Online Learning Opportunities
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Flexibility: Anytime, anyplace learning
Access: To experts and resources that may not be
available locally
Reflection and deeper learning: Educators participate and
interact with colleagues on their own schedules
Personalization: Custom paths for a variety of goals
Cost-effectiveness: Eliminates travel/related costs
Extended learning over time: Opportunities for educators
to try things out in classrooms with feedback
Scalability and sustainability: Capacity-building approaches
work
Assessment: Increased access to learner data
“The illiterate of the 21st
century will not be those
who cannot read and
write, but those who
cannot learn, unlearn,
and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler
What’s Different about Online Learning?
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Content: Different structure of content
Technology: Increasing choice of tools; some will disappear
quickly and technical issues can occur regularly
Accessibility: Online learning increases access but access and
accessibility issues must be addressed
Social dynamic: Different interaction methods & pacing; new
strategies needed to address cohort & individual needs
Discussion: Specific facilitation strategies needed; importance
of written communication and “online voice”
Assessment: New tools available but new strategies needed
Facilitation and design: Labor intensive activities!
More on Accessibility Needs
Video and audio: requires captioning, transcripts, ability
to pace to be fully accessible
 Multi-media requirements not activated in schools
 Image descriptions needed for webpages/documents
 PDF’s not accessible to many screen readers; must create
word or other accessible versions of documents
 CMS’s are generally designed to address accessibility but
won’t insure uploaded content is accessible
For more info and to test accessibility of a webpage: http://webaim.org
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Example Program: E-Learning for Educators
Goal: build state online teacher PD programs focused on
content, pedagogy, student learning
 10 state consortium: AL, DE, KY,
MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, PA, WV
 Funded in 2005 by USED
 Capacity building approach: EDC online
facilitator & course developer training for all states
 Few face-to-face meetings; virtual learning community
anchored whole program
 Large-scale experimental research showed significant
impact on teachers and students
Impact: Ability to Scale
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10 state programs aligned to unique state goals
500+ workshop facilitators trained
2000+ workshops delivered
25,000+ participants completed workshops
450+ course developers trained
91% teachers rated workshops excellent/very good
98% teachers agreed/strongly agreed courses
aligned with their school’s PD goals
96% facilitators rated training excellent /very good
State Example: DE Science Course
“Delaware Watersheds”
Created and facilitated by
DE educators trained to
design and deliver online PD
 Developed to provide
convenient, high quality PD
for 7th grade teachers
assigned to teach Delaware
Watersheds, an integrated Earth Science course taught
across the state
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Research Study
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Goal: examine the effect of online PD on teacher
knowledge, practices, and student learning
Conducted by: Boston College
Included: 4 large-scale randomized experiments using 3
workshops designed by EDC for teachers in:
– English/Language Arts (4th and 8th Grades)
th
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– Math (5 and 7 Grades)
Participation: 369 Teachers; 21,000 Students
Results: Significant impact on teachers and students
across subjects/grades
Example Research Course: Functions
Online PD Lessons and Challenges
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Facilitators need training, incentives & time
Content development is labor intensive & requires training
Multi-media can be costly; little research on cost benefits,
especially video
Marketing strategy needed to generate teacher enrollment
Content must be dynamic; requires updating
Credit or incentives for participants boosts participation
Course management system is needed; requires investment
Need for registration systems as program grows
Important to integrate with other initiatives/programs
Sustainability requires attention to cost structures/fees
Key Lesson: Importance of
Learning Community Models
“Learning is social, and we will all get better at our
projects and at learning from each other by social learning
together.”
-John Seely Brown, USC and Deloitte Center for the Edge
How do we keep online learning dynamic and engaging?
Ten Tips for Effective Online Facilitation
1. Make everyone feel welcome & heard;
create a comfortable environment
2. Establish clear goals & expectations at the outset
3. Provide behind-the-scenes support via email
4. Foster communication between participants
5. Model participation & discussion techniques for participants
6. Keep the discussion alive; prevent stagnancy
7. Keep the discussion on-topic
8. Guide participants through the curriculum
9. Make sure the audience & the content are in sync
10. Bring closure to each topic before moving on
http://courses.edtechleaders.org/documents/opd/ETLO_Ten_Tips.htm
Building Online Learning Communities: Learning by Doing
Technology Considerations
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Focus on the learning goals!
More choices than ever now; multiple ways to meet goals
Hardware is cheaper, more ubiquitous, more mobile
Explosion of Web 2.0/apps: easy to use but hard to use well
Increased access to broadband – but still need to design for
all access levels
Multi-media development is costly, and so are the updates
Facilitator training: more important than “tool” training
“A focus on expanding access to new technologies carries us only so far if we do
not also foster the skills and cultural knowledge necessary to deploy those tools
toward our own ends.” -Henry Jenkins, USC
Choosing Technology Tools
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Course Management Systems
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Integrate content, discussion, assessment,
data collection, users, social media
Support courses, coaching and more
Social Media
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Supports formal/informal learning;
courses and coaching
Varied uses/user roles: creation, lurking,
sharing, collaboration, communication
Synchronous/asynchronous options
Examples: blogs, wikis, micro-blogging,
social networking, virtual meetings,
content sharing, Google Apps, etc.
Recap: Key Lessons
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Online learning is different; requires careful attention to
goals, planning, training, design, technology tools and
implementation
Online PD can improve educator practice and student
learning
Online learning community models foster reflection and
inquiry based approaches with careful facilitation
Learning goals must lead; technology supports
Technology and online learning can enable scale
Online learning is not a simple solution: can be effective
but requires time and resources
The power of connected learning
“If we want our students
to succeed in a global
environment, then we,
as educators, must be
engaged in 21st century
content, context, tools, thinking skills and
assessment.
Thanks to online learning I am a 21st century
life-long learner!”
-JoAnn Nuzum, WV online facilitator and developer
Thank you!
Barbara Treacy
EdTech Leaders Online http://edtechleaders.org
Education Development Center http://edc.org