School Type: Public	School Setting: Rural
Level: K-12	School Design: Traditional
Content Presented By:
NEIRTEC, Northeast & Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium

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In Macon Ridge, Louisiana, the America2000 grant supported online professional development for teachers through the EdTech Leaders Online ™(ETLO) program, which is implemented by the Education Development Center (EDC).

To those who wish to develop an online professional development program (OPD), EDC recommends the following:

• Assess local professional development needs and develop an OPD plan based on these needs.
• Connect OPD with other ongoing, face-to-face professional development activities.
• Carefully select and train OPD-specialist team members.
• Build a strong local team.
• Develop incentives.
• Publicize the OPD program and involve local stakeholders.
• Provide readily available and reliable access to technology and support.
• Foster a rich, interactive online learning community.
• Integrate online workshops with face-to-face meetings.

Online professional development (OPD) generally includes several main components, including Web-based learning opportunities, courses, workshops, and online interactions with instructors, mentors, and colleagues. For educators, the best model tends to be the community model of OPD. This model, which combines readings, activities, and facilitated, peer-to-peer collaborative discussions, is at the core of the EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) program.

1. In this model, participants access their course materials on the Web and complete a sequence of Web-based readings and activities during each course session.
2. Activities may include exploring a Web site or a computer-based simulation, experimenting with a new technology tool or piece of software, viewing an online video clip.
3. The focal point of the session is the online discussion, where learners participate asynchronously to share their reflections, ideas, comments, and questions in response to a focused discussion prompt posed by the facilitator.
4. Because participants and facilitators are able to take time to prepare comments and responses, online discussions can be more reflective than synchronous discussions or face-to-face workshops; they also provide all participants ample opportunity to contribute to the discussion.
5. A record of each online discussion is kept automatically, so participants and facilitators can always review previous discussions to build on them in later discussions; this contributes to the depth and inclusiveness made possible by the learning community model.

Parts of this text were reprinted or adapted with permission from Barbara Treacy, Glenn Kleiman, and Kirsten Peterson, "Successful Online Professional Development," in Learning & Leading with Technology, September 2002. Copyright (c) ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int?l), iste@iste.org, www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Available at http://www.edtechleaders.org/Resources/articles/SuccessfulOPD.pdf.

Costs and Funding

To succeed with an online professional development program like ETLO, the only prerequisites are Internet and e-mail access, computers, and a goal of bringing professional development in technology to the district. Even if a district doesn't have money available for such a program, the ETLO Web site offers guidance for grant-writing. A number of districts have also incorporated the ETLO program into grant proposals for professional development funding.

Some districts, including some in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, have secured funding for the program from the AT&T Foundation, which supports their participation as part of its agenda to help address the digital divide.

America2000 is funded by a five-year $7.3 million Technology Innovation Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This grant program is focused on professional development for teachers about integrating technology into the curriculum.

Parts of this text were reprinted with permission from Barbara Treacy, Glenn Kleiman, and Kirsten Peterson, "Successful Online Professional Development," in Learning & Leading with Technology, September 2002. Copyright (c) ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int'l), iste@iste.org, www.iste.org. All rights reserved. Available at http://www.edtechleaders.org/Resources/articles/SuccessfulOPD.pdf.

Parts of this text were adapted with permission from "A District Story," in Mosaic: An EDC Report Series, Winter 2001. Available at http://www.edtechleaders.org/action/story.htm. Mosaic is a publication of the Education Development Center.

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