Online Courses
CORD's online contextual teaching courses are demonstrating that the Internet offers an effective delivery mode for professional development—one that encourages teachers to collaborate in the creation of a supportive learning community.  

CORD's online courses for secondary faculty include: 

• Teaching Mathematics Contextually  - For Algebra and Geometry Instructors
• Teaching Communications Contextually  - For Language Arts Instructors       
• Teaching Career Guidance Contextually  - For Counselors 

Read the article "Just Because It's Online Doesn't Mean It's Learner-Centered!"  by CORD Associate Ann-Claire Anderson, Eisenhower National Clearinghouse Focus, January 2002

COURSE LENGTH
Each online course unfolds over 13 weeks, requiring 5-7 hours per week for reading, reflecting, discussing, and creating.

COURSE FEATURES
Flexible—Participants have time to reflect and to try new ideas.       
Adaptable to individuals—Allows people to be different; treats teachers as experimenters and inventors.       
Extremely convenient—Eliminates travel and allows teachers to participate from their homes.       
Realistic—Equips teachers for the complexities of the classroom; treats learning as a process.

WHAT COURSE PARTICIPANTS ARE SAYING

"Finally, my teaching IS being influenced by what we are learning here. I'm looking at my teaching from new perspectives and am excited about the ways in which what I have learned will impact my classes in the future. In my algebra classes, I have bright, involved students who like math. Yesterday as I observed them engaged in the activity, there was JOY in my classroom. What more can I say?"

"I have attended conferences where I listened to speakers talk about doing activities. . . It took this course and being forced to do the activities to finally get me motivated to try them . . . the experience has made me a more aware and active teacher."

"I enjoyed the freedom of doing the work online, on my time schedule . . . [the course allowed] time for thought, time to gather materials and work at midnight if I felt like it or on a Sunday at home with my children."

 "The activity that we designed made me think a great deal about what really goes on in the outside world and that to me is what the students have a hard time relating to. This course has opened my eyes to other ways to teach a math class."

GRADUATE CREDIT
Participants in any of CORD's online courses can earn three hours of graduate education credit.

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS
Each course participant needs access to a computer with Internet Explorer 4.x or Netscape 4.x on a regular, preferably daily, basis.

Educational institutions and organizations may purchase CORD's Online Professional Development courses for delivery to the teachers they serve.  Currently, individual teachers cannot enroll in these courses directly from CORD.

For more information on CORD's online courses, contact:
Teemus Warner at 800-972-2766 x 337 or Teemus Warner.