Multi-State Online Professional Development ToolKit

Changing professional development and meeting teacher needs

MOPD - A Model for Online Professional Development

Frequently Asked Questions

This section of the ToolKit provides information regarding questions from persons unfamiliar with online learning or online professional development. This page, like all of the other ToolKit pages, provides easy access to documents, Web sites and other materials that contain up-to-date and reliable information to assist in planning and developing online courses.

• What is the Multi-State Online Professional Development (MOPD) initiative?

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and Education Development Center Inc. (EDC), two long-established and highly regarded nonprofit organizations, in collaboration with SREB states' departments of Education are working together to enable states' departments of Education and schools to make effective use of online professional development to improve teacher quality, administrator quality and student achievement, thereby helping them meet state and federal No Child Left Behind Act goals.

• Are standards for high-quality professional development met through the MOPD initiative?

The MOPD initiative is committed to support and provide online professional development that meets the National Staff Development Council (NSDC) standards (http://www.nsdc.org/standards/index.cfm).

• Has the use of online courses proven to be effective?

Yes! Students at all levels, including middle grades and high school, postsecondary students and the private work force sector, have found online courses to be an effective and valuable means of obtaining needed courses. The quality and variety of courses at all levels continues to grow as more is learned about how to provide a quality course via the Web as the level of access increases and as technologies improve. The Evaluation section of the ToolKit provides a body of evidence that indicates that online learning is as good as or more effective than face-to-face classes.

Successful professional development programs result in increases in teachers' knowledge of both content and pedagogy and lead to improved teaching practices and student achievement. EDC's research into professional development practices has led to agreement on a number of key principles of successful professional development practices for K-12 educators. In summary, these principles describe a change in the way staff development is provided from one-day, in-service presentations to professional development as an integral, ongoing part of teachers' lives. This concept focuses on improving student learning outcomes based on inquiry into teaching and learning and is built on interactions within professional learning communities. Major research studies and syntheses by Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin (1995), Ball and Cohen (1999), Borasi and Fonzi (2002), Shulman (1987), Stigler and Stevenson (1991), Sparks and Hirsch (1997), NSDC (2001), the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education (1996), Garet, et al. (1999), and others consistently agree that professional development is more effective when it:

• fosters a deepening of subject-matter knowledge, a greater understanding of learning and a greater appreciation of students' needs;
• centers around the critical activities of teaching and learning-planning lessons, evaluating students' work, developing curriculum, improving classroom practices and increasing students' learning, rather than in abstractions and generalities;
• builds on investigations of practice through cases that involve specific problems of practice, questions, analysis, reflection and substantial professional discourse;
• values and cultivates a culture of collegiality, involving knowledge and experience sharing among educators; and,
• is sustained, intensive and continuously woven into the everyday fabric of the teaching profession, through modeling, coaching and collaborations.
   

• What are some of the more important issues and potential barriers to successful online professional development?

Included among the often-mentioned barriers to successful use of online professional development are: creating quality courses that meet instructional needs; training instructors to successfully provide effective courses; ensuring there is proper support to meet student academic and online learning needs; and attending to the technical requirements needed to successfully develop, provide and access online courses. As is often stated, while reliable access is a core requirement, the barriers and success of online professional development are often far more dependent on attending to the human issues and needs than on the technical issues. This includes addressing instructional, management and program policies and regulations. It should be remembered that online teaching will take as much or more time than teaching traditional face-to-face classes.

An organization may begin its online professional development program by utilizing one of the quality courses from one of the MOPD partners or teach free content from PBS Teacherline. Additionally, on the main MOPD Web page under topics such as “courses”, “training” and “resources,” you will find tools to overcome potential barriers and encourage success of your online professional development program.

• Can teachers receive academic or state recertification credit for online professional development courses?

The simple answer is yes. However, this depends on the state that is granting credit for recertification or the college that is granting academic credit. Before registering for an online professional development course, it is important for you to ask the provider of the online course questions regarding credit. Checking with your state's certification or local district office is highly recommended, since state regulations related to acceptance of credit for degrees and recertification vary from state-to-state.

• What does it cost to take an online professional development course?

The charge for online professional development courses varies depending on who provides it and under what circumstances it is provided. Some states will provide free online courses to teachers within their state. Colleges or others may offer online professional development courses at varying prices, depending on the provider and the nature of the course. As with credit, this is an important question to ask prior to enrolling in an online professional development course. Credits for online college courses are often charged at the same rate as credits for traditional college courses.

• What is it like to be an online teacher or student?

While online instructors require many of the same skills and abilities of a face-to-face teacher, there are significant differences essential to successful online teaching, the most obvious being the importance of being able to communicate effectively in writing, to explain, support, encourage and respond to student needs. Teaching in the online environment also requires time-management and organizational skills to provide anytime, anywhere learning and specific strategies to facilitate active participation of the course participants. While online teaching appears to be an isolated experience, well-designed courses allow for significant interaction among students and teacher. Many online teachers have said that they know their online students far better than they do their face-to-face students and that they have created a community of learners.

There are similar requirements and strategies that online students need. Students have to be motivated, organized and prepared for the different pace of an online course. Nevertheless, successful online students often feel they participate more actively in online courses than in traditional courses because there is increased opportunity for reflection and for ongoing interaction with the instructor and fellow students, as well as increased, flexible time to access course content.

• Are online professional development courses self-directed or interactive?

The Multi-State Online Professional Development (MOPD) initiative courses are all interactive. Some online professional development courses provided by others may be self-directed courses. Generally, we do not recommend self-directed courses since it is through the interaction of participants that quality learning occurs.

• What is required to teach online?

Beyond obvious technical requirements, including a computer, online course and Web access, training to fully understand the specific challenges and opportunities of teaching in the online environment is key. Adequate allotment of time is an often-overlooked factor when planning and implementing online courses. There is substantial evidence that planning and teaching online requires more time than to teach face-to-face courses. This is because the level of interactivity with each individual student is increased.

• What are the technical requirements to take and teach online courses?

The short answer is a computer with adequate memory and speed, an online course, Web and e-mail access. The specific computer and software requirements for the instructor's computer and students' computers will depend on the nature and sophistication of the course. Reliable Internet access with sufficient bandwidth to allow students to access the course successfully is also extremely important.

• How much time does it require to teach or take a course?

Generally, online teachers have found that it takes more time for them to teach an online course than it does to teach a comparable face-to-face course. This is because most successful online courses are far more interactive, involving all students. Beside interactivity, because online courses do not have a set schedule and may be accessed at any time, students and teachers expand the time they will devote to participating in a course. Parameters for beginning and ending dates of courses are typically organizational decisions, much as they are with traditional courses.

• What support will an online student or teacher need?

To ensure success, online teachers and students need to have instructional and technical support. Pedagogy, content and technical support for online teachers should be provided by the organization offering the courses. Experienced online teachers are also reaching out to form communities of learners to support each other. Students of all ages should have access to course and technical support to avoid technical or academic problems becoming a barrier to online success. This support may be provided face-to-face or electronically through Help desk resources.

• What is required to develop an online course?

A number of companies offer software that provides a platform for constructing and delivering the online course. Selection of the best eLearning Management Solution (eLMS) for you is both difficult and time-consuming. SREB, through its affiliation with the AmericanTelEd Communications Alliance (ATAlliance), has gone through the RFP evaluation process and has obtained eLMS contracts that schools and states' departments of Education are encouraged to examine. For more information, check the ATAlliance website www.atalliance.org.

It is important to know that the development of online courses require substantial amounts of time, and costs are significant. To develop an effective course that fully utilizes the capabilities of the technology requires a course-development team including content specialist, a person with pedagogical knowledge and an individual with course design competency and technical expertise.

Because online course development is so costly and time-consuming, the MOPD initiative is undertaking a program to develop and maintain a database of course content. Participating states will be able to share course content easily and access courses that can be adapted to meet state-specific goals.

• Are there already developed online courses available?

Yes, through MOPD, the Education Development Center provides participating SREB states' departments of Education with a menu of high-quality, well-tested online professional development courses. Up-to-date listing of these courses may be found at http://www.edtechleaders.org/programs/workshops/catalog.asp.

MOPD continues to identify online professional development courses that schools and states' departments of Education may consider for use with teachers within their state. Courses and providers whom SREB states or schools have had quality experience are listed. This listing is located by clicking on the MOPD Web page at “Other Online Courses”.

• Whom do I contact to learn more about the Multi-State Online Professional Development initiative?

The MOPD initiative is made available by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), the Education Development Center (EDC) and the SREB states' departments of Education. Contacts are listed below. If you are located in an SREB state, you are encouraged to call your state contact. Other contacts include Bill Thomas, director of Educational Technology, Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) at bill.thomas@sreb.org  or (404) 875-0211, and Barbara Treacy, director, EdTech Leaders Online, Education Development Center at BTreacy@edc.org or (617) 618-2550.

For more information, e-mail Bill Thomas at bill.thomas@sreb.org