The importance of online professional development

Online professional development opportunities continue to multiply, and it is important we encourage educators at all levels to get involved in these virtual pathways for learning.

This past weekend, I participated in the Webheads in Action Online Convergence 2009 Conference. The multi-day synchronous event took place in Elluminate with presenters and participants tuning in from around the world. I posted about WiAOC09 back on May 11th. Vance Stevens, an educator in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, led this all-volunteer professional learning event.

Even though I’ve been fortunate to participate in blended, online PD events like the K-12 Online Conference, ISTE Webinars, and various webcasts streamed from EdTechTalk in the past few years, online PD still poses unexpected challenges and hurdles for me. In my own presentation for WiAOC09, I had to scramble when my presentation slides turned out to be too large to upload into the Elluminate environment. I was able to proceed by doing an “application share” of my presentation, but the situation exemplified a common experience I’ve encountered repeatedly with online PD: I’m always learning something new, and frequently the things I learn are unexpected.

In his keynote “Open & Networked Teaching: A Transformative Journey” for WiOC09, Alec Couros discussed the importance and availability of “spontaneous professional development.” (See slide #20 of his Slideshare.)

Classroom 2.0, EdTechTalk, Twitter networks and Ustream broadcasts now provide a diverse (and at times overwhelming) array of options for educators to connect, collaborate, and learn together. Amidst these learning opportunities, we still see and experience a great deal of fear. Alec creatively addressed this fear in a movie trailer he posted to YouTube for a recent graduate course he taught at the University of Regina in Canada.

Humor can be used very constructively as we strive to face and overcome our fears. Do you fear online professional development and online learning? How do your professional peers view online learning? How many experiences have we each had, to date, with online learning in both formal and informal settings?

It is critical we find ways to personally experience and share the power of online professional development, whether it is “spontaneous PD” which results from blog or Twitter reading, or a more structured experience like an online conference event. Learning is no longer bounded in many of the ways it has been limited historically. To understand as well as embrace these possibilities, it is critical we each find ongoing opportunities to participate in online PD as students and learners.

Is your school or school district taking steps to encourage educator participation in online professional development?

Image Credit: From 5tein

Similar Posts:

• Participate in WIAOC09 May 22-24
• EduBloggerCon09: Great Opportunity for Co-Learning
• Cell Phones as Audio Recorders
• Learning about Immigration and Family Heritage via Digital Storytelling
• Options for creating digital graphs

adobe acrobat 8 pro instructions Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended download scan using adobe acrobat