Professional Development for Online Educators

2012 ◽  
pp. 204-226
Author(s):  
Angela Velez-Solic ◽  
Jennifer R. Banas

A professional development program for online faculty members can be difficult to create, implement, and sustain. Its components will vary depending on the location of the online faculty, the institutional budget, and who is administering the program. A professional development program is essential if institutions wish to keep instructors up-to-date on technological advances and pedagogical shifts as online classrooms change. Today’s online faculty members are inundated with “information overload” due to the internet and because information is increasing exponentially, which results in pressure to “keep up” (Sherer, Shea, & Kristensen, 2003). Because of this pressure and the proliferation of learning tools, institutions need to help faculty filter and use the information available to them. This chapter will focus on essential components of professional development programs, issues and potential solutions, examples from successful programs, and future trends in online professional development.

2014 ◽  
pp. 521-544
Author(s):  
Angela Velez-Solic ◽  
Jennifer R. Banas

A professional development program for online faculty members can be difficult to create, implement, and sustain. Its components will vary depending on the location of the online faculty, the institutional budget, and who is administering the program. A professional development program is essential if institutions wish to keep instructors up-to-date on technological advances and pedagogical shifts as online classrooms change. Today's online faculty members are inundated with “information overload” due to the internet and because information is increasing exponentially, which results in pressure to “keep up” (Sherer, Shea, & Kristensen, 2003). Because of this pressure and the proliferation of learning tools, institutions need to help faculty filter and use the information available to them. This chapter will focus on essential components of professional development programs, issues and potential solutions, examples from successful programs, and future trends in online professional development.


Author(s):  
Christine L. Mark

Professional development programs must have an organized process of evaluation, either formally or informally. The evaluation needs to be delivered in both micro and macro settings. In the micro setting, the evaluator monitors the overall atmosphere of the learning environment and the performance of the participants while training is taking place. In the macro setting, which consists of the teacher’s classroom, the evaluation needs to determine whether the teacher is actually using the knowledge gained during professional development to improve /impact student learning outcomes. In order for professional development to be effective, professional development programs should never be delivered and then forgotten. Further, locating funding and support are important due to the state of economic crisis and budget cuts. School districts have to look for creative ways to fund and support successful professional development programs. Some of these include developing technology resource centers, looking for federal and state funds, and looking toward individuals and corporations to help support and fund programs.


Author(s):  
Amy Payne

Professional development is an essential aspect of any career. Many professions have minimum standards or requirements of training each year to maintain a license and/or job. This chapter outlines the necessary components for effective professional development training in terms of technology use, and examines some reasons why certain professional development programs may be ineffective. The chapter also discusses ways to assess the overall efficiency of a professional development program and highlight some outstanding professional development programs/practices in existence. A comparison between professional development practices performed in the United States with other countries around the world is provided to offer an understanding how professional development can vary depending upon culture.


2014 ◽  
pp. 1685-1705
Author(s):  
Christine L. Mark

Professional development programs must have an organized process of evaluation, either formally or informally. The evaluation needs to be delivered in both micro and macro settings. In the micro setting, the evaluator monitors the overall atmosphere of the learning environment and the performance of the participants while training is taking place. In the macro setting, which consists of the teacher's classroom, the evaluation needs to determine whether the teacher is actually using the knowledge gained during professional development to improve /impact student learning outcomes. In order for professional development to be effective, professional development programs should never be delivered and then forgotten. Further, locating funding and support are important due to the state of economic crisis and budget cuts. School districts have to look for creative ways to fund and support successful professional development programs. Some of these include developing technology resource centers, looking for federal and state funds, and looking toward individuals and corporations to help support and fund programs.


2014 ◽  
pp. 1537-1550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carissa Tomlinson

While often overlooked, there are many benefits of in-house professional development programs for academic librarians. This is especially true as the roles of academic librarians continue to evolve and change. This chapter argues that internal professional development not only helps academic librarians share their varied skills, tools, and practices with institutional colleagues, but also improves employee morale, collegiality, and organizational culture. Additionally, by structuring an internal professional development program using a peer-learning model, librarians gain a sense of community while seeing value in each librarian's individual knowledge. Also, peer learning can be a mechanism for institutional knowledge management and the transfer of institutional memory through intergenerational and cross job function learning. In addition to exploring the evolving nature of the academic librarian and the importance of professional development as peer learning in the context of the local institution, this chapter will describe in detail one university library's internal professional development program for librarians.


2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 542-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu Guo

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the practices of a well-established professional development committee (PDC) at an academic library to reveal the development of effective professional development programs with various themes and the diversified delivering formats and the assessment of library employees’ training needs and the effectiveness of professional development programs with Needs Assessment Surveys and Program Follow-up Employee Opinion Surveys. Professional development programs are widely adopted in academic libraries to support the professional growth of library employees and improve the quality of library services. Developing, promoting and administering professional development programs are main responsibilities of the PDC. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based upon the PDC’s recent practices since 2011. The Needs Assessment Surveys (in 2012 and 2013) are conducted electronically, so are the Opinion Surveys since 2013 which are formerly conducted in paper. Findings – The well-planned professional development program themes with special designed delivery formats have demonstrated their effectiveness through high attendance of each professional development event. The positive results and high compliments from both Need Assessment Surveys and Opinion Surveys also endorse their values to employee’s professional growth. Originality/value – This paper classifies various professional development program ideas into six program themes and three special delivery formats, and each is presented with intention, planning and organization. This paper also provides details of using different Need Assessment Surveys and Opinion Surveys for evaluation, which is also lacked in published literature.


ZDM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1411-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Thurm ◽  
Bärbel Barzel

Abstract Digital technologies such as multi-representational tools have the potential to enhance the learning of mathematics. In light of this potential, there is a ubiquitous call to integrate such tools into mathematics teaching. However, these technologies are still underused. Teaching with technology is not an easy task and teacher competencies such as knowledge and beliefs are a decisive factor. Therefore, professional development is important to professionalize teachers and support them in using technology in meaningful ways. Despite this need, little is known about the efficacy of professional development programs for teaching mathematics with technology. This quantitative study investigated the efficacy of a half-year professional development program for teaching mathematics with technology, using the methodology of a quasi-experimental design, in Germany. We captured (i) teachers’ beliefs about teaching with technology, (ii) self-efficacy beliefs related to teaching with technology, (iii) epistemological beliefs and (iv) self-reported frequency of technology uptake with quantitative questionnaires in pre- and post-tests. The experimental group (n = 39) participating in the professional development program consisted of mostly novices in using technology for teaching mathematics. Propensity score matching was used to match this group with a control group of teachers (n = 38) who did not participate in the professional development program. The strongest impact of the professional development program was found on teacher’s technology-related beliefs. Frequency of technology use seemed to increase gradually in the experimental group during the professional development program. No effect of the professional development program was found on self-efficacy beliefs and epistemological beliefs. We conclude by deriving recommendations for designing professional development programs related to teaching with technology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 284
Author(s):  
Susandi Wu

<p>Schools are an important key for a nation because schools play a role in preparing the nation's next generation. Schools are organizations that require good knowledge management. The knowledge that schools have  is the work of their members, the teachers. The knowledge possessed by teachers varies. For this reason, schools must create a system so that knowledge can be shared and learned by all the teachers in the school. One way that can be done is by implementing a professional development program. Through this program, there will be a process of knowledge transfer according to the SECI model. This program is effective in increasing the knowledge of teachers and thus their intellectual capital. If the intellectual capital of the teachers increases, their competence in teaching will also develop and they can create a better generation for the nation.</p><p><strong>BAHASA INDONESIA ABSTRAK: </strong>Sekolah adalah kunci penting suatu bangsa, karena sekolah berperan dalam mempersiapkan generasi penerus bangsa. Sekolah merupakan sebuah organisasi yang memerlukan pengelolaan pengetahuan yang baik. Pengetahuan yang dimiliki sekolah adalah hasil kreasi para anggotanya, yaitu para guru. Pengetahuan yang dimiliki oleh para guru, tidaklah sama antara satu dan yang lainnya. Untuk itu, sekolah harus menciptakan suatu sistem agar pengetahun tersebut dapat dibagikan dan dipelajari oleh semua guru di dalamnya. Salah satu cara yang dapat dilakukan adalah mengadakan program pengembangan professional. Melalui program ini, maka akan terjadi proses perpindahan pengetahuan menurut model SECI. Program ini efektif untuk meningkatkan pengetahuan para guru yang merupakan modal intelektual mereka. Jika modal intelektual para guru bertambah, maka kompetensi mereka juga akan berkembang terutama dalam pengajaran. Hal ini diharapkan dapat menciptakan generasi penerus bangsa yang berkompetensi tinggi di kemudian hari.</p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Nascimento

This paper focuses on professional development practices implemented in Brazil, and the influence of post-colonial views in the power-relation between the ‘educational authorities’ or ‘experts’ and teachers. The paper addresses how this relationship in professional development is mostly ‘one-sided’, as often it does not include the 'voices' of teachers. Rather, it prioritizes the assumptions many  ‘experts’ have towards teachers’ needs for growth, in which the choices of topics and the kind of professional development programs to be designed often follow an ‘one-fits-all’ model or banking education as defined by Freire (1970). This paper emerged from the author's experience during her Master’s thesis research (Nascimento, 2010). She addressed the challenges of teaching in public schools in Brazil, and its implications in a social justice context. Through the lens of different teachers who participated in a volunteer-based Canadian/Brazilian teacher professional development program, the research investigated in which ways the inclusion of teachers' voices in professional development programs could affect teachers’ performance in a Brazilian context. During four years over the summer, Canadian teachers and Brazilian teachers worked together on a professional development program that aimed to encourage teachers to share their teaching experiences and reflect on their practice.


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