Contrasting the Strengths and Limits of Alternative Online Teacher Professional Development Models

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Contrasting the Strengthsand Limits of
Alternative Online Teacher Professional
Development Models

• Presentation at AACTE
• Jan. 31, 2006
• Chris Dede, Harvard University
• Kathleen Fulton, National Commission on Teaching
  and Americas Future
• Raymond Rose, Concord Consortium

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NSF-Sponsored oTPD Conference

Many initiatives in online teacher professional
development (oTPD) now are serving large numbers
of educators and consuming substantial resources.
Relatively little is known, however, about the
educational effectiveness of these programs or
about ways their underlying models for teacher
professional development could improve through
sharing insights about design and implementation.
How these initiatives might inform teacher
education programs is also in need of greater
study. http//gseweb.harvard.edu/uk/otpd/index.h
tm
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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Balance of Content and Skills What balance
  among seven types of content and skills underlies
  the professional development model studied
• subject matter knowledge for teaching
• understanding student thinking
• instructional practices
• assessment practices
• classroom management
• epistemic perspective(e.g., multiculturalism,
  universal design for learning)
• leadership of educational improvement?

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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Primary Methods of Teacher Learning
• What primary methods of individual and
  collaborative teacher learning underliethe
  professional development model studied?
• What roles do instructors, facilitators,subject-m
  atter experts or mentors playin enabling
  learning by participants?
• What assumptions, theories, or researchabout
  learning provide the rationale forthe models
  pedagogical approach?

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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Face-to-Face, Distance, or Distributed Learning
  
• all face-to-face
• all across distance
• distributed as a mixture of face-to-faceand
  online activities (a.k.a. blended, hybrid)?
• Mixture of Interactive Media Used(e.g.,
  videoconferencing, async discussion, synchronous
  dialogue)

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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Type of Infrastructure What types of access to
  technology are required for the professional
  development model studied?
• Degree of Commitment
• What amount of time does the professional
  development model studied require of
  participants?
• What types of changes in classroom behavior (if
  any) are asked of participants?

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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Ways of Ensuring High Quality Enactment
• What types of training for instructors,
  facilitators, or mentors does the professional
  development model studied entail?
• Is technology used to standardize enactment?
• What types of measures are used to assessthe
  quality of a particular professional development
  enactment?

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Dimensions of oTPD Models

• Evidence of Effectiveness
• What types of research on the effectivenessof
  this model have been conducted?
• Who were the participants, and what typesof data
  were collected?
• What analytic methods were used to derive
  findings?
• What were the major findings of these studies?

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) program at
  Education Development Center, Inc focuses on
  enabling clients to develop their own
  organizations capacity to provide effective
  online professional development to K-12 teachers
  and administrators.
• teams from districts
• all online, centered on asynchronous
• teams select one of 30 online workshops, learn to
  deliver this, and implement with guidance

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The WIDE World teacher professional development
  program offers online courses designed to foster
  teachers application of research-based
  strategies in planning curriculum and fostering
  and assessing students learning.
• online readings, asynchronous discussions, and
  interactive tools
• tailored support from an expert online coach for
  every participant

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The eMentoring for Student Success is designed to
  increase student achievement in science by
  providing early-career middle and high school
  science teachers with science-specific mentoring
  and professional development through an online
  learning community.
• discussion and collaboration among novice science
  teachers, experienced science teachers, and
  research scientists
• mentors receive extensive training in online
  interactions, content and pedagogical coaching
  skills, and best practices in science education

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• TERC and Lesley University have collaborated to
  develop a fully online Masters in Science
  Education program for K-8 teachers, who build
  their science content knowledge and teaching
  skills through a combination of on- and off-line
  learning and discussions with colleagues
• modules are co-facilitated by a scientist and
  science educator The scientist guides
  participants in their acquisition of science
  content, skills and habits of mind, while the
  science educator coaches participants as they
  learn about and try new teaching and assessment
  strategies in their classrooms.
• students receive kits that enable them to conduct
  science investigations at home that they report
  on and discuss in study groups.

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The American Museum of Natural History sponsors
  Seminars on Science, online courses in the life,
  earth and physical sciences that provide
  interactions with working scientists and master
  science educators.
• participants read essays, view images and videos
  (e.g. authoring scientist perspective, a
  laboratory tour), experience interactive
  simulations, and explore related websites
• discussion forums provide a space for
  expert/novice interactions among research
  scientists, expert science teachers and learners

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• Indiana Universitys Learning through Enacting
  Innovation is curriculum-embedded professional
  development to support teachers in implementing
  the Quest Atlantis Project as part of their
  classroom offerings. Teachers discuss their Quest
  Atlantis experiences with other teachers or with
  the research/design team
• through face-to-face dialogue in school
  hallwaysor the teacher lounge
• through text-based interactions over emailor in
  project bulletin boards
• by individually and collaboratively examining
  videos of teacher practice and examples of
  student work

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• Also from Indiana University, Learning to Teach
  with Technology Studio is a teacher professional
  development system that consists of 60 online
  problem centered courses and a custom learning
  management system.
• each teacher begins by reading a curriculum
  problem and an approach to addressing that
  problem
• s/he then undertakes five to seven tasks serving
  as proximal objectives for the overall goal of
  building a lesson plan consistent with the
  problem statement and principles for inquiry
  based instruction
• s/he works one-to-one with a mentor who will
  provide feedback on her work as well as
  encouragement and guidance when needed

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The WGBH Educational Foundation has developed a
  set of online professional development courses
  for K-12 teachers as part of its larger Teachers'
  Domain digital library initiative a centerpiece
  of this model is to embed rich media drawn from
  WGBH productions
• video segments are typically 3-5 minutes in
  length, often re-edited and re-narrated to match
  K-12curricular needs
• each media artifact is supported a "resource
  page," which presents a background essay that
  provides a context for understanding the content
  of the resource, discussion questions, and
  correlation to state and national standards

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• The Milwaukee Public Schools Professional Support
  Portal (PSP) promotes teachers flexible thinking
  and collaborations, while ensuring opportunities
  for access to information, experts, and
  colleagues.
• permits each user to personalize the presentation
  and organization of information that appears on
  the screen
• offers a smorgasbord of tools and applications,
  all accessible through a single login and
  overarching interface
• incorporates space where multiple users can post
  shared documents, leave comments for each another
  on an asynchronous bulletin board, or have
  synchronous chats, all features that support
  online collaboration

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Exemplary Programs Studied

• PBS TeacherLine and Concord Consortiums Seeing
  Math project draw on each other for design
  insights and provide high-quality professional
  development for K-12 teachers with the goals of
  improving teacher quality and increasing student
  achievement.

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Ready to Teach Algebraa joint project of
Concord Consortium and PBS TeacherLine
Seeing Math Series

• Raymond Rose

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Web Sites

• TeacherLine.PBS.org
• Seeingmath.Concord.org
• /seeing_math_secondary.html

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Course Listing

• Proportional Reasoning
• Linear Functions
• Transformation of Linear Functions
• Linear Equations
• Systems of Linear Equations

• Quadratic Functions
• Transformation of Quadratic Functions
• Quadratic Equations
• Data Analysis

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oTPD Model

• Fully online in Desire2Learn CMS
• Scheduled asynchronous
• Expert online moderation
• Facilitators get online training before course
• Facilitators have access to support during course
  
• 30 hour commitment
• Grad credit available at extra cost
• Cohort-based

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The Process

• Experience math
• Observe and reflect
• Discuss
• Observe and listen to student thinking
• Integrate technology into the learning
• Adapt material for the classroom

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Seeing Math Philosophy

• Fostering a reflective attitude among
  participating teachers about their own teaching
  and their own understanding of the mathematics
  they teach.
• Providing insights into student thinking about
  mathematical concepts.
• Deepening the understanding of specific
  mathematical concepts.

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Features

• Authentic video depicting real classroom
  situations
• Expert commentary by national specialists
• Innovative interactive software to illustrate and
  reinforce math concepts
• Guidelines for adapting existing curricula
• Curriculum materials
• Moderated online discussion

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Course Structure
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Final Evaluation

• As a result of taking the SMS course modules, a
  mathematically well-prepared sample of teachers
  was found to learn primarily in pedagogy as
  opposed to specific content areas.
• Ready to Teach Algebra Evaluation. Edcentric and
  Hezel Associates. 2005, p. v

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Contact

• raymondrose_at_ec.rr.com

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Reactions from an Engaged Observer

• Kathleen Fulton
• National Commission on Teaching and Americas
  Future

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Implications for Teacher Education

• Online learning will be a key vehicle for teacher
  learning (and student learning) in the future
• Implication Teacher education programs need to
  build new teachers comfort/skills/dispositions
  for online teaching and learning
• Online professional development require a
  combination of social learning and self-paced
  learning
• Typically follow social constructivist model that
  has spin-off implications for teachers own
  pedagogy and teaching styles

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• Online learning provides a means for building
  bridges between teacher preparation/new teacher
  support/continuing professional development,
  e.g.
• E-Mentoring for Student Success (eMSS)
• Milwaukee Public Schools Portal
• Teachers Learning in Networked Communities
  (Microsoft Partners in Learning Mid Tier Grant)

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• More bridges across teacher education and
  districts
• Teachers for a New Era and Title II follow the
  graduates mandates mean increasing teacher
  education involvement in new teacher support
• Role for oPD (formal and informal induction and
  continuing education activities) in continuing
  education credits and credential granting
  provided by higher education

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Key Opportunities

• Highest quality content
• E.g. Seeing Math, Teachscape lessons, experts
  from museums, math/science experts around the
  world (eMSS WGBH models from symposia)
• High quality program design models
• Flexibility in scheduling, timing, asynchronous
  interactions, developing own learning spaces
  (MPS)
• More chance for teacher reflection, dialogue

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Key Challenges

• Mentors need extensive training in online
  interactions, content and pedagogical coaching
  skills, and best practices in the education area
  (e.g. math, science)
• How much structure/facilitation is needed?
• Balancing resources on demand (go find and
  learn on your own) vs. building and sustaining a
  community of learners

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Questions for Discussion

• Will teacher education/higher education view oPD
  as an opportunity, diversion, or competition?
• Who will lead development of the best approaches?
• How do we know whats working and who will be the
  judge?

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• Contact
• Kathleen Fulton
• National Commission for Teaching and Americas
  Future
• kfulton_at_nctaf.org