Web-based Professional Development Strategies 

CORD's work in the area of web-based course development has been underwritten by the AT&T Foundation. The following text reports on the success of two pilot projects in web-based professional development.

Web-Based Courses:
A New Strategy for Delivery of Teacher Professional Development

Why do we need a new strategy?
Education reform calls for widespread changes that will take place only as a result of effective professional development. According to the U.S. Department of Education, professional development “serves as the bridge between where prospective and experienced educators are now and where they will need to be to meet the new challenges of guiding all students in achieving to higher standards of learning and development.”

If professional development is critical to education reform, the solution to many of the problems faced by American schools would appear to be more professional development. But, in fact, the solution is not just more professional development. Rather, we need a whole new approach to professional development in order to produce long-lasting results.

The failure of much professional development to improve teaching is a reflection of inherent problems in the way professional development is usually delivered:

Professional development can be inflexible. In conventional professional development situations, instructors have a predetermined amount of material to get through and a very short time in which to do it. Time is usually allowed for participants to share information about themselves and their experiences, but that time must be short. Otherwise, the instructor cannot get through the scheduled material.

It is often designed as though “one size fits all.” Because of time constraints, professional development is usually conducted as though all participants have about the same backgrounds and learn at the same pace and in the same way. Teachers have widely differing backgrounds and, like their students, have different learning styles. Some learn well in traditional lecture settings or by reading, while others require a more hands-on, physically active approach.

Professional development can sometimes be inconvenient. It often involves travel and close quarters with unfamiliar people in unfamiliar surroundings. The unfamiliarity can be a distraction and can discourage free exchange of ideas. Being away from the classroom can also be a source of anxiety. When substitutes don’t do their jobs well, teachers come home to extra work.

Ineffective professional development is usually based on a simplistic paradigm, i.e., that certain “new” information will lead to positive changes in teaching methods, which, in turn, will lead to improvements in student performance. Reality is not that simple. Effective teaching involves a long-term process of trial and error in the classroom. Moreover, simply giving teachers information, however useful, rarely changes the way they teach. Speaking off the record, most teachers will admit that when they return from professional development sessions they pick up right where they had left off.

Given the high cost and ineffectiveness of many professional development models, it is obvious that successful education reform will not be brought about by more of the same. What are urgently needed are delivery methods for teacher professional development that are economical, flexible, convenient, adaptable to individual differences, and responsive to the complexities of classroom teaching.

Pioneering experiments in Texas and Illinois have demonstrated that the World Wide Web can be an effective medium of delivery for teacher professional development.

Pilot Projects in Online Professional Development
In 1999, under a grant from AT&T, CORD developed a 16-week online professional development course for contextual teaching in algebra. Eleven Texas teachers participated in the inaugural session. Following the successful Texas pilot of the course, AT&T provided funds for launching a streamlined, 13-week version for algebra teachers in Illinois. (AT&T provided a start-up grant, and the Illinois State Board of Education’s Math Initiative provided additional funds for the roll-out.)

Nine teachers graduated from the first Illinois section; two of those took the moderator training course so that they would be equipped to facilitate delivery of the ensuing sections. The second Illinois section began on January 22, 2001, with 27 students enrolled, and the third on February 5, 2001, with 20 students enrolled. The success of the Texas and Illinois pilots is leading other states to consider replicating them as components of their professional development programs.

Benefits of Online Professional Development
The Texas and Illinois pilots showed that online professional development offers an effective model because of the following advantages:

Online professional development is flexible. Because a course takes place over a period of weeks—rather than hours—the pacing is flexible. Participants have time to get to know the moderator and one another, time to reflect, and time to try new ideas in the classroom.

It is adaptable to individual differences. Online delivery of professional development allows people to be different. If a participant senses at the beginning of a course that he or she is a little behind in some area, there is time for the moderator to bring the participant up to speed. For some participants, a new concept becomes useful only after it has been tried a few times in the classroom; online professional development is designed to encourage trial and error. It is based on recognition of the fact that, ultimately, teachers are inventors of their own teaching processes.

It is convenient. Online professional development eliminates the need for travel and allows teachers to participate in the privacy of their homes. This removes many distractions, keeps teachers in the classroom, and simplifies the logistics of balancing work and family. Each course involves weekly schedules of assignments, readings, and activities, but, within that framework, participants are free to log on at any time.

It creates a learning community. The sense of ease created by the convenience of online professional development is conducive to the free flow of candid information. Participants often report that the sharing of ideas is highly instructive and that the successes of other teachers can be a source of encouragement. In everyday circumstances, teachers too often work in isolation; participants in online professional development see themselves as creative, contributing members of a learning community.

It equips participants for the complexities of the classroom. Online professional development allows participants to acquire and refine skills demanded by the complexities of today’s classrooms. Online professional development treats learning as a process, providing a framework within which teachers can test new ideas—through experimentation, reflection, and discussion—to see how those ideas can best be applied.

Is the technology itself an obstacle?
Among teachers, as with the American population in general, computer skills range from virtually nonexistent to fairly sophisticated. Some teachers find the prospect of taking a course online a little intimidating, but, as they become more comfortable with and proficient in the use of technology, they embrace the online format for its convenience. At the completion of an online course, teachers who began with little experience with online technology feel empowered to use it with confidence, and even teachers who are already familiar with the technology learn to use it more effectively