Virtual Virginia

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Virtual Virginia
EDC Online Professional Development for
Online Instructors Presented by Cathy
Cheely Director of Virtual Virginia
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Virtual Virginia
Goal and Challenges
The goal is to develop and provide a quality
online professional development program for
beginning and experienced faculty and staff.

• Challenges include
• Scarcity of highly qualified experienced
  instructors
• Few pre-service programs for potential teachers
• Little or no training in traditional academic
  training programs
• Lack of knowledge of online pedagogy
• Lack of experience in online work environment
• Full time and adjunct faculty with different
  needs
• Understanding of Virtual Virginias mission and
  standards
• Best practices are evolving as new research
  influences the direction of online education
• Others.

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Virtual Virginia
Solutions

• Professional development program based on
  Standards for Online
• Professional Development from SREB
  
  
• http//www.sreb.org/programs/edtech/pubs/PDF/04T04
  -Standards_Online_Prof_Dev.pdf and Standards for
  Quality Online Teaching http//www.sreb.org/progra
  ms/EdTech/pubs/PDF/StandardsQualityOnlineTeaching.
  asp
• All efforts lead to the development of a strong
  and inclusive learning community

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Virtual Virginia
The Ws

• What Professional Development for Virtual
  Virginia
• Who Everyone!
• Everyone participates in professional
  development activities including the Virtual
  Virginia administrators, support staff and
  faculty
• Training is also provided for those in the
  schools who work with the program including the
  building level counselors and mentors
• Online modules and handbooks as well as f2f
  sessions upon request.
• Where Virtual and F2F

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Virtual Virginia
The Ws

• When Professional development begins with the
  interview and is a continuous process
• What
• A varied menu of professional development
  activities that are timely, need based and
  related to the Virtual Virginia mission of
  serving students in the Commonwealth.
• Data driven (based on student and school survey
  results and student achievement)
• Research based (does it work and is it making a
  difference in improved performance?)
• Collaborative promotes sharing and working
  together to achieve goals of Virtual Virginia

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Virtual Virginia Professional Development
Activities
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Mission Control
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Virtual Virginia
Mission Control

• Content area - All reference documents, forms and
  how-tos
• Tricks of the Trade A place for colleagues to
  seek and to offer general instructional support
  as well as discuss best practices for online
  learning
• Faculty Bulletin Board - A place to share
  non-instructional news with your colleagues
• News Articles of Interest - This is a place to
  post news articles either in print or online that
  may be of interest to the online learning world
• Department Forums Science, Social Studies,
  English/Humanities, World Languages
• Book Forum - Seven Habits discussions

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Virtual Virginia
Mission Control

• I am in these two worlds every day...and I can't
  help comparing the two...but I love having these
  articles and being a part of such a group that
  spends this much time on reading and taking these
  issues seriously - something like this would not
  happen in a f2f school, I think.  At least not
  like this.  I do not mean to diss f2f
  organizations by saying this.  But it feels
  pretty revolutionary!  Vive la revolution!
• (Adjunct French instructor who also teaches in
  traditional school)

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Professional Development Announcement
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Online Professional Development Agenda
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Online Professional Development Session
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Virtual Virginia
Comments and Questions

• Virtual Virginia - www.virtualvirginia.org
• Cathy Cheely cathy.cheely_at_virtualvirginia.org