This document discusses how to help educators transform their classroom practice through effective professional development that leverages technology. It argues that teachers must "unlearn" outdated practices and embrace new technologies and tools. Two examples of successful online professional development programs are provided: (1) a 10-state consortium that built state-level online teacher PD programs focused on content, pedagogy and student achievement; and (2) an online algebra program for Louisiana teachers seeking additional certification. The document emphasizes that effective professional development must be intensive, ongoing, connected to practice and build strong relationships among teachers.

1. Helping Educators
Transform Their Classroom
Practice
Barbara Treacy
SETDA
November 2010

2. “It is the framework which changes
with each new technology and
not just the picture within the frame.”
-Marshall McLuhan (1955)

3. “The illiterate of the 21stcentury will not be
those who cannot read and write,
but those who cannot
learn, unlearn, and relearn.”
-Alvin Toffler (1990)

5. What needs to be “unlearned” to:
 Enable professional learning for
a student centered classroom
 Transform how teachers teach;
not “adding technology” to a
laundry list of required classroom
activities.
 Encourage teachers and schools
to utilize virtual professional
learning communities
;

6. “Learning no longer needs to be one size fits all.
The challenge for our education system is to leverage
technology to create relevant learning experiences that
mirror students’ daily lives and the reality of their futures.”
-National Educational Technology Plan, USED 2010

7. “In education…we have not really
seized upon the power and the
tools that are now available to us
in the Internet age”
-Eric Schmidt, Google CEO
Web 2.0 is easy to use; Web 2.0 is
hard to use well.
- Chris Dede, Harvard

8. Example CCSSO Core Teaching Standards
Standard 7: Panning for Instruction
Performances: (a) As an individual and as a member of a learning community, the
teacher selects and creates learning experiences that are appropriate for
curriculum goals, relevant to learners, and based upon principles of effective
instruction.
Essential knowledge: (h) The teacher knows a range of evidence-based instructional
strategies, resources, and technological tools and how to use them effectively.
Standard 10: Collaboration
Performances: (e) The teacher actively integrates technological tools and a variety
of communication strategies to build local and global learning communities
that engage students, families, and colleagues.
Essential knowledge: (h) The teacher knows how to work with other adults and has
developed skills in collaborative interaction appropriate for both face-to-face
and virtual contexts.

9. “Effective professional development is:
 intensive, ongoing, and
connected to practice;
 focuses on the teaching
and learning of specific
academic content;
 is connected to other
school initiatives; and
 builds strong working relationship among teachers.”
– Linda Darling-Hammond, et al (2009)

10. Effective PD must also:
 Incorporate technology
 Address unlearning
“Technology can help us build
the capacity of educators by
enabling a shift to a model of
connected teaching.
The best way to prepare teachers for connected
teaching is to have them experience it.”
-National Educational Technology Plan, USED 2010

11. Ex.1: E-Learning for Educators
Goal: build state online teacher PD programs focused on
content, pedagogy, student achievement
 10 state consortium: AL, DE, KY,
MD, MO, MS, NC, NH, PA, WV
 Funded in 2005 by USED
 Unique state/PTV partnership
 Content sharing across states
 EDC facilitator training, developer training, workshops
 Large-scale experimental research with significant impact
of online PD teachers and students

12. Ex. 2: Louisiana Algebra 1 Online PD
program
 11 online workshops in targeted Algebra 1 topics
 State add-on certification for Algebra 1 teachers
who complete all 11 workshops
 Workshops include online applets and tools to
support learning with students
 Workshops are project and classroom based
 Online facilitator training for LA math teachers

13. Teacher voice
“If we want our students to succeed in a global
environment, then we, as educators, must be
engaged in 21st century content, context, tools,
thinking skills, and assessment… Thanks to online
learning I am a 21st century life- long learner!”
-West Virginia facilitator and course developer

14. Thank you!
Contact:
Barbara Treacy
Btreacy@edc.org
EdTech Leaders Online
http://edtechleaders.org
Education Development Center
http://edc.org