cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by marya
In, “Benefits of Online, Face-to-Face Professional Development Similar, Study Finds,” Education Week blogger Benjamin Herold reported earlier this week on research by my U-M colleague Barry Fishman. From the post:
Online teacher professional development has the same effect on student learning and teacher behavior as more traditional face-to-face models, according to a new research study to be published next month by the Journal of Teacher Education.
The study, which controlled for factors such as teacher experience and student demographics, compared the experiences of teachers charged with implementing a new high school environmental science curriculum. One group of teachers in the study participated in 48 hours of face-to-face workshops spread over six days, while their counterparts worked at their own pace through an online workshop covering the same content.
In both groups, the researchers found, “Teachers reported increased confidence with new curriculum materials, enacted those materials consistently with curriculum designers’ intent, and their students learned from curriculum successfully and in equal amounts.”
Barry Fishman, an Associate Professor of Learning Technologies at the University of Michigan, served as a lead investigator on the study, which was funded primarily by the National Science Foundation …
“There’s some hesitation on the part of teachers who think that online [professional development] is somehow less valuable to them because of a lack of personal connection,” Fishman said. “I think this study may make them a little more optimistic” …
Stephanie Knight, a professor of educational psychology at Penn State University and the lead editor of Journal of Teacher Education, said Fishman’s strong methodology makes the study an especially important contribution to the growing push for large-scale professional development aligned with new academic standards.
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By measuring student gains on an end-of-unit test, rather than relying on self-reports from teachers, the researchers were able objectively measure and compare the effectiveness of the different types of professional development.And by reviewing videotaped lessons taught by each teacher in the study, they were also able to gauge how well teachers incorporated both the content of the curriculum and the pedagogical strategies they were supposed to learn.
The result, said Fishman, is compelling evidence in support of the emerging body of research on the effectiveness of online professional development.
“When it’s designed properly, there really is no difference,” in the outcomes of online and in-person professional development, he said.
Of course, the devil is in how the teacher training is designed and executed.
“There are no shortcuts in professional development,” Fishman stressed.
Sage Publications will provide a free downloadable version of the study, titled Comparing the Impact of Online and Face-to-Face Professional Development in the Context of Curriculum Implementation, online beginning July 10.
What I like about Barry’s design is that he thought beyond the PD itself and looked at levels of implementation and outcomes. So often, when we are beginning to plan PD (or even conference presentations, which, at practitioner conferences at least, are another form of PD), we measure success by how enthusiastic the teachers were or how well the evaluation sheets praise us. But ultimately, we have to remember that the purpose of professional development is to build professional capacity. By looking at classroom practice (qualitative) and test scores (quantitative), Barry closes that loop. How can you do the same when you plan your PD sessions?