EdTech Leaders Online: Evaluation and Lessons Learned

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EdTech Leaders OnlineEvaluation and Lessons
Learned

• Barbara Treacy
• CoSN 2006

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EdTech Leaders Online Professional Development
(OPD) Programs

• Goal Capacity building online learning programs
• Two key OPD programs
• Facilitating and Implementing OPD
• Designing and Developing Online Courses
• Semester-long online training course
• 30 online workshops 6 sessions/ 24 30 hours
• Format readings, activities, discussion,
  classroom project
• Ongoing planning and implementation support
• National forum for online specialists
• Graduate credit through Antioch University
• Two key Virtual Schools programs
• Online Instructor
• Online Designer

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Evaluation of Milwaukee Implementation 2002 - 2004

• Two studies
• Facilitators (N 32)
• Workshop Participants who completed at least two
  online workshops (N 698)
• Pre and post-surveys included quantitative and
  open response questions relating to background,
  instructional practice, use of technology and
  content knowledge
• Facilitators and Workshop Participants Focus
  groups of 5-6 participants each

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Research Questions

• Did the online learning impact content knowledge,
  pedagogical practices and approaches?
• Did the online learning impact collaboration
  among teachers?
• How well were facilitators trained?
• What uses and opportunities of online learning
  do teachers report?
• What are the characteristics of how the program
  was organized and implemented in Milwaukee?

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Facilitators

• Training effective or very effective (100)
• Training exceeded expectations and increased
  opportunities for collaboration, to gain new
  skills and meet district goals (83)
• Challenge implementing workshop time management
• Opportunities teacher collaboration across
  grade levels and schools ability to focus on
  local goals learning about useful classroom
  resources

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Workshop participants

• Online workshops exceeded expectations to impact
  content knowledge and pedagogical practice (89)
• Facilitators effective or very effective (86)
• Able to design classroom projects based on
  workshop content (90)
• Challenges time to complete workshop timing of
  some workshops scheduled at end of school year
• Advantages new content knowledge and classroom
  resources ability to learn at own pace

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Upcoming Experimental Research e-Learning for
Educators

• e-Learning for Educators Nine states will
  implement large scale ETLO online facilitator
  training in 5-Year project funded by US
  Department of Education
• Research plan
• Four Two-Year experimental studies starting in
  Jan 2007
• Middle School and Elementary Study Math and ELA
• Teachers complete a series of three workshops
  over 2 yrs
• Teachers surveys (3X) background, pedagogical
  beliefs, content knowledge, instructional
  practices
• Student surveys (3X) background, instructional
  practices, content knowledge

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Thank you!

• Barbara Treacy
• btreacy_at_edc.org
• EdTech Leaders Online
• http//www.edtechleaders.org
• Education Development Center
• http//www.edc.org