growth, management and professional development of teachers in an online program

iNacol Presentation Nov 2010 - W. Gray & J. Brown

Growth, Management and Professional Development of Teachers in an Online Program

By Wilf Gray eLearning Principal

& Jeff Brown DeLC

#GMPD - twitter


Where in the World is KPR?http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&tab=wl


FAQ ‘s• 35,000 students

> 100 schools, many small rural schools

7000 square kilometresLakeshore to Shield


Opportunity: to grow program, engage students and develop teachers in Online learning

The KPR online program online model

• Part 1: Team Organization / Collaborative Planning

• Part 2: Teacher Selection

• Part 3: Professional Development

• Part 4 : Reaching Forward


Part 1: Our Evolution of our Model

Planning, Feedback, Adjustment, Planning ….


How we started

Elearning PrincipalAlternative School Principal

3 eLearning Teachers, 3 courses 75 students

DeLCDistrict eLearning Coordinator

Technology Coordinator

Superintendent


Early success created many areas for growth…• Training and development of eLearning teachers

• DeLC role expanded

• School Guidance Counsellors best practices in using eLearning for student solutions

• Enhance focus on student success and completion rates in eLearning

• Reduce the need for students to “Google and go”


How we are organized today….

LeadershipSuperintendent

Principal

DeLC (District Coordinator)Registrar

eLearning Advisory Team

Teachers

14 teachers from 17 different schools

900 + students in 2009/10

Guidance Counsellors

Computer Ratio in schools

IT Support


Key Areas of Growth System Level

• Principals and Guidance Dept Heads direct access to elearning Leadership

• Growth of Advisory team

• Growth of Professional Development plan

• Growth of course offering, Student Handbook and Student Orientation


Support Level

• Always a data driven model for decision making

• DeLC role refined

• eLearning registrar role created

• Communication for eLearning teachers, students and Guidance counsellors refined


School Level• Almost every school has an eLearning teacher that

can support students directly in their school

• Student Orientation is done F2F in every school

• School elearning teams now starting to develop

• Interventions for elearning students at risk


Part 2 : Teacher Selection


Background• Elearning courses selected based on student

needs

• Contract teaching sections/lines are allocated to elearning prior to school allocations

• Staff eLearning teachers from schools ahead of Surplus Transfer process

• Each year we release all eLearning teachers and open interviews to all secondary teachers

• Created a "pool" of teachers to draw from as schools change


Selecting eLearning TeachersOnline adobe connect interview process

Check and build teacher’s technology capability

Check the school’s technology infrastructure

Eliminates the travel distances for interviews (anytime, anywhere)


So what are we looking for….

• Teachers who connect with students

• Comfortable with virtual engagement

• Demonstration of solid teaching strategies using technology

• Considered to be innovators within their own schools in student learning


Part 3 : Professional Development


Capacity Building

• Virtual Staff Meetings

• Mentorship

• Augmenting School Infrastructure


Virtual/F2F Staff Meeting

1. Program Support Course design, Logistics

2. New Technology TrainingMaintain and support LMS (D2L)

3. Professional Development21st Century Learning Paradigm shift


New Technology Training• Supporting student engagement through D2L

• Class discussion areas for students on course topics including; assignments, exams, resources, etc

• Organizational tips for using the LMS to better focus student learning

• don’t overwhelm the students by showing them the entire course at once

• Integration of Xpress Lab for online assessments; as an example

• Emerging technologies – web 2.0 with courses


Professional Development• Collaborative development of expectations and future PD

with elearning teachers

• Book studies ie. Disrupting Class by “C.M. Christensen”

• Assessment & Evaluation• Growing Success

• This year developing ties to • School Effectiveness Framework (SEF)• Teaching & Learning Critical Pathway (TLCP)• Board and School Improvement Plans


eLearning Teacher Mentor Program • Elearning experience is the main factor in the program

• New eteacher assigned experienced mentor with release time for both teachers

• eLearning teachers have evolved into a team which has allowed for more creative problem solving within and sharing between program

• A free flow of ideas and solutions for common challenges to all eLearning courses for meeting system goals


Augmenting School Infrastructure

• Standard technology “suite” to elearning teachers; base for technology support

• School computer to student ratio is adjusted to support students enrolled in elearning courses

• Aligns with Board’s Instructional Technology Plan

• Creates the opportunities for elearning teachers to transfer their new skills into their F2F classes


Part 4 : Reaching Forward


Reaching Forward & Student Supports

• Student Orientation Program

• Further Development of consistent practices

• Organizations that support our Learning

• Program Extensions


Student Orientation Program• Connecting students early and often with school supports,

eLearning teachers (both within the school & in their course), other eLearning students and Board supports is key

• This has significantly reduced our early drop rate within eLearning courses for our Board

• One of our key roles has been to focus on student engagement and working to prevent the student from leaving the course

• development of student orientation program to reduce technical challenges and improve student retention rates


Development of Consistent Practices that align with Schools

• Common exam period for all elearning courses

• Connections with Guidance Counsellors, Student Success teachers and in school elearning teachers

• Failure analysis profiles of students courses

• At risk student emails and phone calls with parents (use of texting, cell phones, websites beyond the LMS)

• Student Handbook


Organizations that support our Learning

• Elearning Ontario

• Ontario Elearning Consortium

• iNacol


Program Extensions

• Blended learning pilot into grade 10 F2F classes

• First Class Summit


Thank you for your time

[email protected]

[email protected]


• Electronic Staff meetings

• Online interview

• Specialty courses

• Sharing of students

• Student Orientation & Handbook

• Growth

• Imagine a staff meeting where everyone has completed the pre-work

Our innovations


Timelines with eLearning Program

August /September • Confirm student orientation at all schools with DeLC• Ensure teacher release time for orientation at local site• Confirm enrolments of courses and spaces remaining – inform

guidance counsellors and principals• Discuss with DeLC spaces for out of Board students • Meet with Elearning Team to plan F2F PD sessions with Elearning

teachers and which staff meetings will be done via adobe connect• Direct secretaries at local schools to elearning secretary to confirm

student registration, and shared students status within trillium for OnSIS

• Establish eteacher mentors at the first elearning staff meeting


Oct / Nov• meet with Guidance PORs to

discuss next year’s elearning courses

• review enrolment, drop out and success rates

• start the planning for elearning courses as they will be promoted on the website, within the OeLC and Board Course Calendar for student

• start planning on which new elearning teachers will attend the OeLC conference in Jan/Feb

Dec• confirm next year’s elearning

courses• start planning for next year’s

elearning budget

Jan • reports cards, exams, marks,

next semester’s enrolment• confirm student orientation at

all schools with DeLC for Feb• Ensure teacher release time

for student orientation at local site

• Confirm enrolments of courses and spaces remaining – inform guidance counsellors and principals

• Discuss with DeLC spaces for out of Board students

Feb • start new semester; student

orientation• plan for posting of next year’s

courses and which semester• develop interview questions,

DeLC for adobe connect room


March • interviews for Next year’s

elearning teachers• select teachers and assign

sections to schools• secondary schools submit data

for next year’s staffing• confirm enrolment for

computer allocation (4:1) ratio

April • staffing sections assigned

to schools (elearning sections are additional sections to school’s totals)

May • review elearning courses and

enrolment to determine correct assignments

• coordinate training with DeLC before end of the school year

• planning for next year’s student orientation

June • do any last minute changes or

hiring• confirm COS process with HR

for elearning teachers • confirm inventory and assign

old inventory to school with highest number of student enrolment


Sample Questions….

Tell me about the skills, knowledge and experiences that you posses that would make you the best candidate for the elearning position.

It has been over two weeks and a student in your course has not logged in, submitted any assignments or sent an email to say they would not be online. How would you engage this student who has started to disengage from the course?

The first four weeks of any new course are an important time for building classroom rapport and a collaborative learning environment. What strategies would you use to build the rapport and learning environment? How would you know if they were successful or not?

Across Ontario, all senior elearning courses need to have written final exams as part of the course’s final assessment. How would you prepare students for this part of the assessment of your course?

growth, management and professional development of teachers in an online program

Documents

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