Take off! With online learning: professional development has never been so easy or so accessible. Pick your destination and head for the departure gate

Instructor, Oct, 2004 by Roberta Salvador

Like traveling by air, taking courses online offers several key advantages--an impressive array of places to go and many connections to get you there. Online learning offers freedom, convenience, and the ability to connect with peers all over the country. And with professional development requirements for educators mounting, teachers are increasingly looking for professional development opportunities that can fit into their already busy schedules.

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The convergence of demand for classes and the need for convenience has fueled the creation of new or expanded online professional services, such as Internet-based new teacher support, mentorship training, and specific courses tailored to meet states' No Child Left Behind requirements for "highly qualified" teachers. From discrete math to classroom management skills, today's online learning offers a wealth of hubs from which teachers can soar to almost any virtual destination.

Flights Leaving Every Minute

When Instructor talked to teachers who had taken online courses, what we heard most often was that teachers needed and valued convenience and flexibility. "A real strength of this type of professional development is the self-paced aspect--the option of working in classes around your own schedule," says Glenn Rustay, a National Board Certified Teacher and assistant principal in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Rustay, who has taken four online classes towards a master's degree, emphasizes that all that is needed to sign on is an e-mail account and a reliable Internet provider--ease of mind for the tech-phobic.

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Instructor's short list of online professional development (PD) organizations for teachers (see page 20) is a good starting point for finding a class to take or resources you need. Each of these course providers offers a wealth of options, including threaded discussion boards covering topics relevant to the course content, 24-48 hour turnaround for answering participants' questions, and a way for students to e-mail one another. For schools or districts that might be uncomfortable with fully online course delivery, many providers offer customized options that combine online instruction with on-site facilitators or teachers.

Fellow Travelers

The power of the Internet to bring people together, whether informally or in a structured class environment, is an appealing element built into many online courses. The teachers interviewed by Instructor emphasized that the feedback and academic support they received from instructors and fellow students was a crucial element. The interaction fostered a real sense of community.

Through taking online professional development and mentorship classes, says Karen Vanek, an elementary-school teacher and staff development leader in the Houston (TX) Independent School District, she had a chance to get to know peers from across her large and diverse district, "which gave me perspectives I hadn't had access to before." Vanek adds that when she hit occasional snags during an Internet-based pilot project in her district, she discovered the online camaraderie helped her morale. "You found out that you weren't the only one confused about something. 'Talking' online with the other teachers involved made me feel that I wasn't alone," she says.

Teachers coming together as a learning community constitutes an important element of online professional development, according to PBS TeacherLine senior director Rob Ramsdell. "We feel quite passionately that if you get 20 teachers together and build a community of learners," says Ramsdell, "the teachers can work through one another's questions and help each other grow." Funded by a Ready to Teach grant from the U.S. Department of Education, TeacherLine has trained more than 500 facilitators to help teachers connect with one another as they participate in its online courses.

Minor Turbulence

While the majority of teachers we talked to considered peer-to-peer communication an important part of their online learning experience, some mentioned a few drawbacks. Glenn Rustay, for example, found that during group chats, the inability to respond at the speed of normal speech--particularly when the discussion got heated and one's fingers weren't nimble enough--left some students in the dust. Small desktop videocameras would also be helpful, he says, so intent and nuance aren't lost.

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Mandatory discussion-group participation, however, does occasionally leave teachers feeling over-engaged. When Julie Graff, an eighth-grade English teacher in Brooklyn, New York, took an online course that was demanding in terms of content and assignments, she was surprised at the mandated level of participation. All participants were required to respond to other classmates' queries or discussion points. "I was taken aback when I first logged on because I always had to respond. It can be difficult if some of your classmates are especially 'chatty,'" says Graff. She admitted, however, that, as the class came to an end, she found that she began to appreciate the discussion group. "I did begin to feel more of an emotional connection to my fellow students," says Graff.