Week 5 Reflection: Teacher Professional Development

Professional Development:
Of the 6 readings for this week, I chose the following three to review:

• Going Virtual! Unique Needs and Challenges of K-12 Online Teachers
• Professional Development for Online Teachers by our very own Susan Lowes.
• Online Professional Development Models (Webinar)

Going Virtual! Unique Needs and Challenges of K-12 Online Teachers
I was found each of these to be genuinely interesting for various reasons. In the first article, I was initially surprised that only 2% of respondents were brand new teachers, but in looking at some of the virtual schools it seems like a minimum of 3 years teaching face to face is generally a requirement so that makes more sense. I was also surprised to learn that virtual school teachers report professional development in Web 2.0 technologies as less important than brick and mortar teachers do. Maybe because they already feel comfortable with them? I’m not sure though since only 3 comments by teachers reflected a desire for social networking as a collaboration method with other professionals. Similarly teachers in this school think it less important to “incorporate internet resources in course content” than their counterparts, although they are also less like to develop their own content.

With regard to facilitation, the study noted that more experienced teachers placed a higher importance on classroom management strategies, while newer teachers though innovative thinking and promoting student reflection were more important. My initial instinct was that this might be a factor of “burnout” by more experienced teachers. Beginning teachers are generally more excited by the prospect of their new career, the difference they can make and have a bit of “not knowing what they don’t know” going on as well. Burnout of experienced teachers might also account for their lower rating regarding community building activities. I also noticed that newer teachers place more emphasis on team teaching, which makes sense since this is a focus area being discussed in pre-service programs these days.

From an assessment standpoint, the big point that stood out for me was that across the board participants though peer review was least important. In corporate, being able to give and receive peer review is a large portion of individual’s evaluations with regard to promotions and raises. I would think that this is a skill we want to develop within students.

I surprised to see very few comments with regard to concerns about copyright/plagiarism given all the hype about it and online learning. I also noted that across program model and online teaching experience levels, the “need and challenge” listed in every single category was time management. I have to wonder if this just isn’t a problem for everyone these days in this high-interaction, fast-paced digital economy.

Professional Development for Online Teachers
I really enjoyed reading this article, and not just because it was written by our own professor, but because the distinctions listed really cleared up some of the more confusing topics for me, especially around virtual courses vs. virtual classrooms. I though the comment about creating courses that meet standards while still allowing for the “imprint of the individual teacher” was really on the mark. How else would courses be distinguished from one another?

I’m still a bit disturbed by the virtual schools that insist that teachers have 3 years experience in traditional classrooms. On the one hand, I understand that they are hoping to rely on that experience to transition to this new platform delivery but in this economy when there are no (or few) teaching jobs available in traditional schools and an excess of high quality teachers (many with online learning experience), do schools really want to be that strict?

With regard to ongoing professional development, I think it is insightful that FLVS sets annual goals and created PD activities to meet the goals. This is just like what happens in corporate for promotions, recognizing an individual’s growth. I’m also going to check out COVE which seems a lot like Twitter and/or Facebook groups dedicated to educators in similar fields.

Finally, I thought it was interesting that VHS has created a “Web-extended classroom” helping face-to-face classrooms integrate virtual resources. Should everyone be doing this?

Online Professional Development Models
I decided to listen to this webinar as my third selection to make use of an alternative mode of instruction and because I thought it would be good to hear how schools present their PD models. There are some similarities and differences among the schools.

• Wisconsin eSchool network provides just-in-time training, an “online facilitation” course for teachers, an “investigating K-12 online learning” course for administrators and the general public, and self-paced ongoing “build-on” modules for teachers. These seemed to be comprehensive enough but not that inspiring.
• Boise State University offers two online Masters program for educational technology, 3 advanced certificates and a K-12 program. The K-12 program offers a class called Teaching Online in the K12 Environment using Adobe Connect, an Advanced Online Teaching Methods course and a choice of numerous electives (Online Course Design, Multimedia, YouTube for Educators, Technology-Supported PBL, Online Gaming, and Teaching and Learning in Second Life). They also offer customized training. They are also the ones doing research having produced the “Going Virtual” series of studies. This program seemed very comprehensive and I would definitely like to investigate these options further.
• The Virtual High School Global Consortium offers a 6 credit NetCourse Instructional Methodologies course (10 weeks, all online) for its global teacher network. They learn pedagogical methods and adapt an existing VHS course to teach. They also have a 12 credit Teachers Learning Conference (22 weeks) where teachers write an online course from scratch. I love this idea although it was unclear whether this was an online or in-person class. Finally, they have ProGrEss for ongoing PD (Professional Growth Essentials) with a focus on integrating web 2.0 tools in online courses which I’d be interested in learning more about. They also have a practicum teachers as part of a 6 week course called Become an Online Teacher – 21st Century Teaching Best Practices designed for traditional classroom teachers.
• The EDC (edc.org) has an EdTech Leaders Online program where they offer a teacher PD and virtual schools program which includes an online facilitator class, an online course developer class and over 60 online workshops. The online facilitators course includes integration of Web 2.0 tools for learning. They also offer an Advanced Facilition and Web 2.0 course. More information can be found at edtechleaders.org. I will check this out as well.

I think all of these resources will be a great reference to have in my pocket when I eventually get a teaching job (online or face-to-face).