e-Learning for Educators: Effects of Online Professional Development on Teachers and their Students: Findings from Four Randomized Trials
Boston College University (June 2010)
http://www.bc.edu/research/intasc/PDF/EFE_Findings2010_Report.pdf
This report details the large-scale e-Learning for Educators study of the impact of online professional development on teachers’ content knowledge, instructional practices and student learning. This study shows significant impacts on teachers' content knowledge, instructional practices and student learning on both Math and English Language Arts at the upper elementary and middle school levels. EDC’s EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) developed the series of four online workshops (three 30-hour workshops in ELA and Math for upper elementary and middle school teachers) and prepared the online facilitators who delivered these workshops to teachers across project states.
E-Learning for Educators is a 10-state consortium funded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2005 and led by Alabama Public Televsion to develop state-wide online professional development programs in Alabama, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Misssouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. ETLO is providing capacity building, online training, courses, and consulting to support this successful program which has, in the course of its four years, reached over 21,000 teachers with high quality online professional development in a range of subject areas and grade levels.
Panel Discussion: Online Learning: Addressing Challenges, Seizing Opportunities (2010)
Allison Powell, PhD, Vice President, International Association for K–12 Online Learning
Barbara Treacy, Director, EdTech Leaders Online, Education Development Center
Lori Westhoff, Principal, Humboldt High School (Humboldt, Iowa)
Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education
http://all4ed.org/events/WebinarOnlineLearning070810
The Alliance for Excellent Education hosted a webinar to release two major publications and facilitated a conversation among experts using questions submitted by participants from the around the country. Following the webinar, panelists - including ETLO's Barbara Treacy - participated in a live discussion.
Webinar: Can Web 2.0 Save Teacher Professional Development?
Barbara Treacy and Christopher Sessums (2009)
http://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=lobby.jsp&eventid=167710&sessionid=1&key=A253DACED911F2EBE17405B75F45DCFD&eventuserid=30073177
Event Description: The rise of interactive technology has created exciting new possibilities for teacher professional development, from facilitated online courses to social-learning communities to live multimedia presentations. Many observers now believe that, when used effectively, digital technologies could ultimately break the grip of the one-shot, drive-by workshop in schools and spur the growth of teacher-learning opportunities that are truly collaborative and job-embedded. Yet many questions remain. In this webinar, two experts will address these questions and bring you up to date on the latest ideas and trends in online teacher learning and how you can take advantage of them.
Characteristics of Highly Qualified Teachers
EdWeek (June 2009)
http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2009/06/17/04characteristics.h02.html
This article from EdWeek, featuring ETLO's Barbara Treacy, describes the skills that online instructors need in order to be successful.
Chat: Exploring Online Professional Development
Barbara Treacy and Tom Blanford (June 2009)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/events/chats/2009/06/30/index.html
This chat, featuring Barbara Treacy of ETLO, explores recent issues and developments in the field of online professional development.
Discussion Board Guidelines
EdTech Leaders Online (June 2008)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/documents/disc_expectations.htm
These are suggested discussion guidelines used in ETLO training.
Using Online Learning to Enhance Teacher Professional Development and Graduate Certification Programs
Barbara Treacy, Janis Bruwelheide, and Kirsten Peterson (March 2008)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/about/research/articles/using_online.pdf
This paper is a report on an innovative model of using online professional development content to develop professional development offerings and enhance graduate-level certification programs for library media specialists and other educators. Insights and strategies from a partnership to support a successful online certification program to enhance library media and teacher professional development programs are shared with a focus on addressing local teacher professional development and certification needs.
What's Different About Teaching Online?
Barbara Treacy (October 2007)
http://edtechleaders.org/documents/teachingonline.doc
In this paper, Barbara Treacy, ETLO Director, describes key differences in the online classroom, key strategies for effective online teachers, and how virtual school teachers are in the forefront of educational change today.
How to Choose the Best Online Training for Teachers
EdWeek (June 2007)
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/06/20/01sr_profdev.h01.html
Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers Potential Uses of Information Technology
National Research Council (February 2007)
http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11995&page=R1
Responding to Teacher Shortages
EDC and EdTech Leaders Online (August 2006)
http://www.edc.org/newsroom/articles/responding_teacher_shortages
Implementation of the EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) Program for Milwaukee Public School District
Laura M. O'Dwyer (November 2005)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/research/articles/ETLO_Milwaukee.doc (full report)
Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has participated in Education Development Center's ETLO program since fall 2002. Through Milwaukee's participation in this program, over 40 MPS staff members have been trained as online specialists. Beginning in 2003, the trained online specialists began delivering ETLO's online workshops for MPS teachers and administrators. To date, approximately 140 online workshops have been delivered. The MPS/ETLO program is ongoing and continues to expand, with additional workshops conducted during the 2004 - 2005 school year. Since fall 2002, over 1000 MPS teachers have already been impacted by the online workshops delivered by MPS facilitators.
As part of the ETLO program, pre- and post-training survey data were collected from the facilitators trained in each cohort and from the teachers and administrators who enrolled in the online workshops these facilitators delivered. The surveys gathered both quantitative responses as well as narratives provided in response to open-ended prompts. As part of this evaluation, the aggregate quantitative survey responses and the open-ended narratives were examined to identify patterns in the data across the pre- and post-surveys for all of the facilitator training courses and the teacher workshops . Above is a summary of the findings from each data source for both facilitator course participants and workshop participants.
Click here for: Highlights from the "Implementation of the ETLO Program for Milwaukee Public School District”
Meeting the Need for High Quality Teachers: e-Learning Solutions
Glenn Kleiman, 2004
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/plan/2004/site/documents/Kleiman-MeetingtheNeed.pdf
In this white paper prepared for the 2004 U.S. Department of Education Leadership Summit, Glenn Kleiman, EDC Vice President and Director of COPE, discusses ways that e-learning approaches could be used to help meet the teacher quality requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. He presents principles of effective professional development and discusses some of the ways e-learning can serve as a component of a successful program. He also goes on to look at the characteristics of a number of innovative e-learning programs for educators - along with some of the challenges raised by e-learning approaches.
EdTech GEAR: Online Professional Development
Generating Equal Access to Remote Areas in Tennessee: A case study (2004)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/research/articles/gear.asp
This case study provides an overview to the how the EdTech Leaders Online model was implemented in the state of Tennessee through a competitive state-wide edtech grant. Through this grant, rural school districts were able to access online professional development training to meet their teacher quality needs.
Congressional Black Caucus Honors EdTech Leaders Online
Congressional Black Caucus (October 2003)
http://www.edc.org/newsroom/press_releases/edc_partnership_att_wins_national_technology_award
Successful Online Professional Development
Barbara Treacy, Glenn Kleiman, and Kirsten Peterson (September 2002)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/research/articles/SuccessfulOPD.pdf
This article presents an overview of the key lessons learned in the EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) program about how online learning can build capacity for technology integration and help school districts, state departments of education, regional service providers, and teacher training programs meet the challenge of providing effective professional development for teachers and administrators. It includes a description of the learning community approach to online professional development and important lessons learned through the implementation of this approach in school districts throughout the country. One central message is that online professional development is most effective when it is integrated with face-to-face activities in a multi-faceted, ongoing, professional development program.
Myths and Realities about Technology in K–12 Schools
Glenn Kleiman (April–June 2000)
http://www.edtechleaders.org/research/articles/myths.asp
This article, from The Digital Classroom: How Technology is Changing the Way We Teach and Learn (Harvard Education Letter, 2000), summarizes five common misconceptions about technology to enhance teaching and learning, and the corresponding "reality" for each one.
