Designing teacher professional development programs to support a rapid shift to digital (original) (raw)
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Educational Technology Research and Development
This paper is in response, from an international perspective, to the manuscript entitled "Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: a systematic meta-aggregative review" (Philipsen, B., Tondeur, J., Pareja Roblin, N. et al. 2019). The impact of the manuscript has been reinforced by the claims of international organisations like UNESCO and ILO, as far as they highlight that Teacher Professional Development (TPD) for Online and Blended Learning are a priority in the present scenario. The findings can be clearly applied to guide appropriated TPD for the recovery as well as for a resilient education system. Nevertheless, the research was conducted in a West-European context where most learners use computers on an everyday basis, while half the world's students do not have access to a household computer, and this has determined the emergency response to the pandemic. Dreesen et al. (2020) reported that most of the countries have adopted a remote education based on some combination of digital platforms, television, radio, take-home packages, home visits, text messaging and phone calls. It would be very interesting to incorporate these recent discoveries in the use of frugal technologies and elucidate if new components should be aggregated for TPD strategies from an international perspective. As far as the authors adopted the approach of a systematic meta-aggregative review, new data supported by unequivocal or credible evidence can be conveniently incorporated without reinterpreting the original findings.
2019
In order to fully realise the potential of online and blended learning (OBL), teacher professional development (TPD) strategies on how to teach in an online or blended learning environment are needed. While many studies examine the effects of TPD strategies, fewer studies target the specific important components of these strategies. This study addresses that gap by conducting a systematic review of qualitative data consisting of 15 articles on TPD that targets OBL. Using a meta-aggregative approach, six different synthesised findings were identified and integrated into a visual framework of the key components of TPD for OBL. These synthesised findings are the base for the action recommendations which present specific and contextualised suggestions. Taken together, the findings can inform in-service teachers and trainers, together with further research and development efforts that are concerned with TPD for OBL.
Emerging Design Principles for Online and Blended Teacher Professional Development in K-12 STEM
2017
Online modes of teacher professional development (PD) have gained prominence in recent years for their potential to transform and expand access to high-quality resources and experiences that positively impact teachers' knowledge, beliefs, instructional practices, and ultimately, student learning. Program developers, administrators, and teachers may turn to online venues for professional learning for a number of reasons, including to scale up face-to-face models; increase access to high-quality programs that aren't available locally; and/or take advantage of innovative technologies such as simulations that provide new modalities for teacher learning. Online learning experiences vary in their program format, goals for teacher learning, duration, and leveraged technologies. They may take place entirely online or, in the case of blended PD programs, in conjunction with face-to-face activities. However, with the increasing demand for and availability of online offerings, there is still much to be learned about the effectiveness of these programs and the factors that contribute to their success.
Using TPACK to examine teacher professional development for online and blended learning
Given the current rise of educational technology, more and more teachers are able to deliver their courses partially or fully online. This demands a new way of looking at teaching and learning, and raises many questions (e.g. how to become an online teacher). Therefore, many institutions and professionals try to meet such demands by offering professional development initiatives, aiming to provide teachers with new knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards teaching in an online setting. The technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge (TPACK) framework provides meaningful insights into teachers’ necessary knowledge requirements for technology integration. Using the TPACK framework, this paper presents an overview and first analysis of the emphases placed by different teacher professional development approaches. This study will investigate the teacher professional development approaches of research articles by conducting a content analysis of each article, and by comparing the teacher professional development approaches. The analysis consists of sorting the textual data into different categories, and identifying different patterns and themes, which will be held against the TPACK framework. This is done for each individual study (within-case analysis) and between the studies (cross-case analysis). Furthermore, the initial results of this study will be discussed and the first recommendations for future research and practice will be formulated. Moreover, the results can be beneficial for practitioners involved in teacher professional development with regard to online and blended learning, to guide the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of a professional development approach. Therefore, the findings of this article can be of use to teachers, institutions, and professionals who wish to gain more insight into the current trends of existing professional development approaches, and provide them with a more thorough understanding of the initiatives that support teachers to become effective in online and blended learning. Further research could investigate if there is a link between the addressed TPACK elements in a teacher professional development approach and the retained results.
Coputers and Education
The growth in online professional development opportunities for teachers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, prompts us to question what the most effective practices of facilitating professional development online are and what design elements of online professional development (OPD) programs improve teachers' content and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). These questions are critical to the successful design and delivery of OPD for teachers. To date, there is no systematic review that provides answers to these questions. Hence, this review presents a synthesis of 11 studies that systematically examine experimental and observational studies that tested or evaluated formal OPD programs for teachers. Eight studies were quantitative and three were mixed methods detailing evidence of teachers' OPD program effectiveness, including design elements , that lead to teachers' improved: content knowledge; PCK; beliefs about teaching; self-efficacy; and instructional practices. Design elements identified included a focus on learner supports, further acquisition or development of PCK, engagement, flexibility, individual difference in learners and learning styles, practical learning activities, reflection, relevance and application of knowledge and skills. The analysis uncovers a primary issue that few available publications of teachers' OPD are strong methodologically. This systematic review's findings report on design elements that lead to effective OPD learning experiences for teachers.
An overview of current findings from empirical research on online teacher professional development
Retrieved Mar, 2005
The need for professional development that can customize to fit teachers' busy schedules, that draws on powerful resources often not available locally, and that can provide real-time, ongoing, work-embedded support has prompted the creation of online teacher professional development programs. However, while such programs are propagating rapidly and consuming substantial resources both fiscally and logistically, little is known about best practices for the design and implementation of these online teacher professional ...
2019
Since information and communication technologies were introduced into education, the number of courses delivered in an online or blended learning (OBL) format has increased significantly. However, not all teachers are experienced in teaching in this new digital environment. While various teacher professional development (TPD) models exist, few target OBL and teachers' change processes during professional development. Therefore, this article presents a five-phase TPD process model for OBL. The five phases of the model are (a) a need for TPD for OBL, (b) the professional development strategy, (c) the teacher change associated with OBL, (d) the recognition and appreciation of these changes, and (e) the anchoring of the changes made in the teachers' everyday practice. The model presented can offer a valuable and new approach toward TPD for OBL and introduces the notion of digital capital into TPD for OBL.
A Research Agenda for Online Teacher Professional Development
Journal of Teacher Education, 2008
This article highlights key online teacher professional development (oTPD) areas in need of research based on a review of current oTPD research conducted in conjunction with an oTPD conference held at Harvard University in fall 2005. The literature review of this field documents much work that is anecdotal, describing professional development programs or "lessons learned" without providing full details of the participants, setting, research questions, methods of data collection, or analytic strategies. Until more rigorous oTPD research is conducted, developers are hard pressed to know the best design features to include, educators remain uninformed about which program will help support teacher change and student learning, and funders lack sufficient guidelines for where to direct their support. The authors believe that the recommendations in this article for a research agenda will guide oTPD scholarship toward an evidence-based conceptual framework that provides robust explanatory power for theory and model building.
Examining a decade of research in online teacher professional development
Frontiers in Education, 2020
This literature review documents research in the area of online teacher professional development (oTPD) and seeks to inform developers and facilitators on the complex and unique empirical indicators that are important in designing, developing, implementing, evaluating, and researching oTPD. The 73 studies analyzed in this review suggest that the research in oTPD is progressing toward more rigorous empirical methods and theoretically grounded design, implementation, and evaluation. Research in oTPD is moving forward in more sophisticated ways and adding to our understanding of high-quality practices that engage teachers in meaningful teacher professional learning in online contexts.