Transforming teacher practice through blended professional development: Lessons learned from three initiatives
PROCEEDINGS
Herbert Wideman, Ronald Owston, York University, Canada ; Natalia Sinitskaya, York Unversity, Canada
Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference, in San Antonio, Texas, USA ISBN 978-1-880094-61-7 Publisher: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Waynesville, NC USA
Abstract
The paper presents a comparative analysis of the evaluation findings from three major multi-jurisdictional teacher professional development initiatives that used a blended model for delivery incorporating both online and face to face components. We outline the three initiatives and the evaluation strategies applied to them, and then discuss what the findings indicate about best practices and problems in utilizing blended models of professional development. The factors found to be critical for success included the development of a cohesive and focused learning community; the use of face-to-face sessions to help build that community; the development of a user-friendly portal interface design; strong administer support; the use of formative feedback to meet participant needs; and the provision of opportunities for teachers to experiment with new teaching practices in a context that provides effective mentoring and collegial support.
Citation
Wideman, H., Owston, R. & Sinitskaya, N. (2007). Transforming teacher practice through blended professional development: Lessons learned from three initiatives. In R. Carlsen, K. McFerrin, J. Price, R. Weber & D. Willis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2007--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 2148-2154). San Antonio, Texas, USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved March 19, 2024 from https://www.learntechlib.org/primary/p/24905/.
Keywords
References
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