Multi-State Online Professional Development ToolKit

Changing professional development and meeting teacher needs

MOPD - A Model for Online Professional Development

Resources

This section of the ToolKit provides additional templates and information about online professional development. There are also links to companies and other organizations that provide valuable resources and information. 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.

A Framework for E-Learning
http://bookstoread.com/framework/
This site focuses on various online learning issues, including: pedagogical, technological, interface design, evaluation, management, resource support, ethical and institutional. Various factors discussed in the eight dimensions of the framework can provide guidance in the design, development, delivery and evaluation of flexible, open and distance learning environments, including an international perspective.

Accessible Information Technology Resources: A Quick Reference Guide for Educators,
Southern Regional Education Board
http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/pubs/PDF/AccessibleInformationTechnologyResources.asp
Follow The Link
This guide provides information about tutorials, legal issues and guidelines to help educators improve access to information technology resources for students with disabilities when creating online instructional materials.

Any Time, Any Place, Any Path, Any Pace: Taking the Lead on e-Learning Policy
http://www.nasbe.org/e_Learning.html
In October 2001, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) released the conclusions from its study group on e-learning. This report is a PDF file.

The Association for Online Academic Excellence
http://216.36.213.212/index2.html
Founded in 1997, the Association for Online Academic Excellence (AOAEX) is a professional accrediting association established to uphold and maintain high standards for all levels of online postsecondary education. The focus is on higher education.

Distance Education Clearing House
http://www.uwex.edu/disted/
The Distance Education Clearinghouse is a comprehensive and widely recognized Web site bringing together distance education information from Wisconsin, national and international sources. New information and resources are being added to the Distance Education Clearinghouse on a continual basis.

eLearningGuru.com
http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles.htm
A commercial site that offers “100 practical, 'How To' articles to ensure your e-learning efforts are a success.”

E-Learning for Educators: Implementing the Standards for Staff Development, (NSDC) National Staff Development Council
http://www.nsdc.org/library/authors/e-learning.pdf
This document provides an overview of the Council's standards and considerations when the method of delivery is online. It provides a matrix of the standards, essential elements and guiding questions to consider.

E-Learning Synthesis: Instructional Technology Systems from NCREL Technology in Education
http://www.ncrel.org/tech/elearn/techsys.htm
This document is contained within the E-Learning Knowledge Base. Resources include links to connectivity and hardware issues, commercial eLearning products, course development platforms, higher education topics, virtual high school topics, online professional development for Educators and Web page design.

Handbook of Distance Education for Adult Learners. 2^nd ed. by Leslie Petty, Jerome Johnston and Dehra Shafer. Project IDEAL Support Center, University of Michigan. September 2004.
http://www.projectideal.org/pdf/handbook/DEHandbook3rdEdTEXT2!.pdf
The second edition incorporates insights gained from teachers in 13 Project IDEAL states using curricula such as Crossroads Café, GED Connection, PLATO, SkillsTutor, and WES during the 2002-2003 school year. For more information about Project Ideal and links to their publications, consult this Web site: http://www.projectideal.org/IDEALpublications.htm

Intellectual Property, Copyright and Distance Learning
http://horizon.unc.edu/projects/resources/intellectual_property.asp
The increasing number of online courses and use of the Internet in distance learning is redefining copyright protection boundaries on intellectual property. The purpose of this project is to link to Web-based articles that review the literature in this area or that pose substantive arguments as to the current state of affairs and where we may be going on this issue. We also want to provide links to relevant associations that have an interest in these issues, as well as provide a bibliography of print articles that illuminate the issue. (From On the Horizon, MCB University Press)

Kentucky Virtual University Course Development Resource from Myk Garn
http://www.kyvu.org/partners/quality_audit_1-23-01_screen.pdf
This document is used by Kentucky faculty as a guide for developing online courses. It includes important questions to consider when developing a course.

Learning Times
http://www.learningtimes.org/
LearningTimes.org is an open community for education and training professionals. Members have free access to a wide range of opportunities to interact and network with peers from across the globe. Member activities include live web casts and interviews with industry leaders, online debates and discussions, live coverage of industry conferences, and international working groups.
Members come from a wide variety of disciplines and professions within the world of education, including higher education and K-12 faculty, staff, and administration, educational and web publishing, local and national education departments and bodies, technology providers...and more. 

Literacy Matters
http://www.literacymatters.org/pdonline/intro.htm
This document focuses on the Literacy Matters project which is targeted to improve the literacy development of middle grades and secondary school students, especially those students who are struggling to succeed. The resource link above is connected to the online professional development efforts made through the project.

McREL
http://www.mcrel.org/topics/EducationalTechnology
McREL uses a comprehensive approach to help schools use their technology resources to improve instruction and student learning. Their technology experts help schools and districts examine the big picture, build on established strengths, and develop strategies for maximizing their technology resources through audits, workshops, and consulting.

North American Council for Online Learning
http://www.nacol.org
The mission of the North American Council for Online Learning is “to increase educational opportunities and enhance learning by providing collegial expertise and leadership in K-12 online teaching and learning.”

Online Event Technology by Kurt Larsen Director, WestEd RTEC
http://www.wested.org/onlinepaper/index.html
This site is designed to provide information for planning and presenting online events including the following topics:

Online Journal of Distance Learning Administrators
http://www.westga.edu/~distance/jmain11.html
Provided by the State University of West Georgia, the articles are archives from 1998 through summer 2003.

Online Professional Development:  Get the Facts!
http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=193600873
No Child Left Behind's call for teachers to be "highly qualified" in their subject area, coupled with an increasing variety of online courses on how to teach subjects such as reading, math, and science, has spurred many districts to turn to Web-based professional development (PD). But as with any new initiative, it pays to look before you leap.   Review this article to determine if web-based training for improving instruction the right fit for your district?

Professional Development: 21st Century Models, by Judy Salpeter in Technology & Learning, August 2003
http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=13000492
This article relates effective professional development characteristics. Included are several lists of resources for further information.

Professional Enrichment
http://www.eschoolnews.com/resources/reports/professionalenrichment/
This document contains an assembled collection of articles and news stories that will help you maximize your use of technology to advance teacher professional development.

References to the Ready to Teach Proposal. EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO). (2006)
http://www.sreb.org/programs/EdTech/MOPD/ETLO_ready_ref.pdf
This list is a bibliography of resources related to the Ready to Teach grant funded by the U. S. Department of Education to Alabama Public Television. A good description of the grant is provided in this power point presentation also prepared by ETLO: http://www.edtechleaders.org/forms/institute06/presentations/meeks.ppt.

701 eLearnng Tips by The Masie Center, Summer 2004
http://www.masie.com/701tips/
"The MASIE Center's TRENDS readers and e-Learning Consortium Members, over 1000 e-Learning tips were received, analyzed, and categorized. These tips are from senior managers and training professionals from major corporations around the world. We have edited and compiled 141 pages and 14 chapters covering the ABCs of getting started to global implementation strategies."

Slate Citation Machine
http://citationmachine.net
This is a format for bibliographic citations provided by the Landmark Project.

10 Tips for Successful Online Learning - by Mitchell Weisburgh
http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/10_tips.pdf
This document is a quick reference on important things to remember when delivering online instruction.

TappedIn
http://tappedin.org/tappedin/
Tapped In is a Web-based learning environment created by SRI International to transform teacher professional development (TPD) for professional development providers and educators. Tapped In enables providers to offer high-quality online professional development experiences and support to more teachers cost-effectively. Tapped In offers TPD providers and other organizations the latest in online technology, along with the online learning strategies and support needed to use online technology effectively. Through Tapped In, organizations can develop, implement, and manage online courses, workshops, seminars, mentoring programs, and other collaborative activities that supplement, or function in lieu of, face-to-face activities.

Teacher 2 Teacher
http://mathforum.org/t2t/
Teacher2Teacher is a peer-mentored question-and-answer service. They focus on answering questions from teachers and parents about math teaching and math learning. As they answer questions, they build an archive, so that everyone can benefit from past work. All archived questions and answers can be added to by the public. They have also developed Frequently Asked Questions from common questions that have arisen.

Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning by Mark Kassop, Technology Source, May/June 2003.
http://ts.mivu.org/default.asp?show=article&id=1059&action
This article list 10 ways he believes online education excels. Note: This article was originally published in The Technology Source (http://ts.mivu.org/) as: Mark Kassop "Ten Ways Online Education Matches, or Surpasses, Face-to-Face Learning." The Technology Source, May/June 2003. The article is reprinted here with permission of the publisher.

Texas Technology Access Project
http://tatp.edb.utexas.edu/
The mission of the Texas Technology Access Project (formerly the Texas Assistive Technology Partnership) is to make technology, and the many benefits available through technology, accessible to Texans with disabilities. This focuses on online distance education.

TxDLA; Texas Distance Learning Association
http://www.txdla.org
The TxDLA Mission is to promote the implementation of effective distance learning for the benefit of all Texans.

What Considerations Should Be Made In Order To Develop Accessible Web-based Distance Learning Courses? AccessIT and the University of Washington
http://www.washington.edu/accessit/articles?173
This document contains the accessibility needs of instructors and students to keep in mind when creating online courses. The accessibility of authoring tools and Web pages is also addressed.

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