By Dennis Sparks

Results, May 2000

Copyright, National Staff Development Council, 2000. All rights reserved.

Schools are likely to face increasingly aggressive marketing for electronic forms of professional learning as more providers enter this lucrative market. While these new forms of professional learning hold promise, their value is largely unproven. And because they may divert staff development resources from the collaborative work of school communities, educational leaders need to carefully consider how electronic learning fits into school or district plans for teacher and administrator learning.

Electronic learning in its various forms offers numerous advantages. It often can be delivered anywhere at anytime. It can be selected to match the learner’s interests (no more large group sessions that miss the mark for many participants), be delivered in manageable chunks, proceed at the learner’s pace, provide video models of exemplary practice, and offer just-in-time learning on a variety of subjects.

And, if districts use electronic learning programs that track how long participants were engaged with a subject and what they learned, such programs may be more convenient and efficient for districts with clock-hour requirements for professional development or those that use individualized staff development plans

But there are also good reasons for schools to proceed cautiously. Little is known about the effectiveness of electronic learning, particularly beyond the awareness and knowledge-acquisition levels. In addition, little is known about which kind of teacher and administrator learning needs are best met by electronic means and which require more traditional processes.

Decades of research have shown us that improvements in classroom practice require massive amounts of in-school and in-classroom assistance. Teachers often benefit from demonstrations of new practices with their own students and from coaching by experts and peers. In addition, teachers’ learning must be encouraged within the school by high expectations for performance and nurtured by a culture that supports experimentation and collaboration. Such schools provide teachers with regular time for learning, planning, and problem solving with other faculty members.

Educational leaders must ask themselves and providers of the various forms of electronic learning some tough questions:

• Does the content of the online learning match individual, district, and/or school goals for teacher learning?
• What evidence supports the value of this particular form of online learning in achieving those goals?
• Does the online learning provide teachers with deep knowledge of the content they teach and research-based approaches for teaching it?
• Do the schools provide mechanisms, such as study groups, that allow teachers to have face-to-face discussions with colleagues about what they’re learning online and how they’ll use it to improve their teaching and student learning?
• Are processes, such as classroom demonstrations, mentoring, and coaching, available to all teachers to support the application of online learning in their classrooms?
• Have steps been taken to ensure that teachers are surrounded by a school culture that promotes continuous improvement?