The Impact of Online Professional Development on Teaching Practice: Research Summary and Final Results Dr. E. Childs Graduate Division of Educational Research University of Calgary echilds@ucalgary.ca Dr. S. Crichton Graduate Division of Educational Research University of Calgary crichtos@ucalgary.ca
Abstract: This research investigates one online professional development program for K-12 teachers to determine if
it impacted teaching practice. It reports on the findings of the five phased research agenda. This research employed the traditions of ethnography (Patton, 1990), case study research (Merriam, 1998) and frame and code analysis (Goffman, 1959, 1974). The findings of this research suggest that the ePD program did have an impact on the teaching practice of its participants. This impact was described and interpreted across five frames which include: (1) Fundamentals, (2) Change and Impact, (3) Program Design, (4) Implementation and Use, and (5) Learning Culture and Sense of Community.
Introduction Research (Crichton & Childs, 2003, in press; Reyes-Mendez, Torres-Velandia, Harrison, & Moonah, 2003) suggests that the online learning environment is different from the face-to-face classroom and as such, requires different skills, knowledge and abilities of teachers who work in that setting (Coppola, Hiltz, & Rotter, 2002; Salter, Richards, & Carey, 2003). Further, because the majority of teachers have not experienced this learning environment, either as students or as teachers, they have no actual model or direct experience to guide their teaching practice. This research suggests that online professional development can afford both the experience and a working model to allow teachers to be learners before being called upon to be online teachers (Crichton & Childs, in press; Palloff & Pratt, 1999). The Advisory Committee for Online Learning defines online learning as “what occurs when education and training (typically credit but also non-credit) are delivered and supported by networks such as the Internet or intranets�(Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001, p. 2). In this research, the terms online learning and elearning are used interchangeably as both are viewed as being consistent with the above definition, reflecting the flexible nature of the online environment, that allows learners to engage in learning at anytime and from anyplace (Palloff & Pratt, 1999). Online learning also provides space for learning to occur within the context of a traditional classroom, via distance, or through a blend of both delivery methods. It is this notion of blended learning that is very intriguing for many school districts as it builds on the infrastructure and skills they currently have and allows them to create a blend that addresses the unique characteristics of their setting (Childs, Dewar, Hamilton, & Whittington, 2002). Online education is increasing across North America. As school jurisdictions struggle to deal with shrinking budgets and resources, many decision makers are looking to online learning environments as a way to address the new realities of and demands on public education. They see online courseware as a way to manage organizational, resource and strategic issues (Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001; Robinson & Latchem, 2003). This has resulted in school boards looking to online approaches for instructional delivery to meet the diverse needs of their students, to offer the full range of provincially mandated curriculum offerings and to generate additional funding. With the shift in education towards more of a blended model of learning (Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001: Robinson & Latchem, 2003), there is an increasing demand on teachers to build online courses and to teach online. This requires a dramatic shift in the roles, responsibilities and training of teachers (Coppola et al.
2002). It is a shift that requires teachers to reexamine their pedagogical beliefs and assumptions about learning (Becker & Reil, 1998) because, as many maintain (Reyes-Mendez et al. 2003; Palloff & Pratt, 1999; Stein et al. 1999), the online learning environment and its associated methods of instruction and learning is different from the traditional face-to-face classroom setting. “The biggest mistake when people consider the online environment is trying to make the online instruction like classroom instruction. Online learning is not a classroom, it is another different thing” (J. J. Reyes-Mendes, personal communication, November 10, 2003). The online classroom requires that both the teacher and the learners adopt different roles and responsibilities from those in a traditional classroom, researchers (Good, 2001; Palloff & Pratt, 2000; Salmon, 2000; Schofie ld, Melville, Bennet & Walsh, 2001) advocate for the development of an e-pedagogy in order to effectively facilitate learning in the online environment. Helping educators make the transition to developing and facilitating courses in the online environment has become a major area of investigation in recent years (Palloff & Pratt, 1999; Sherry et al., 2000). Some of this research has focused on the changing philosophy of teaching that an online environment requires (Becker & Reil, 1998; Coppola et al., 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 2000; Good, 2001) or facilitation techniques and course management strategies for an effective online classroom (Salmon, 2000). Other research in this area focuses on the logistics of adopting a blended learning approach from the organizational level (Childs et al., 2002; Epper & Bates, 2001) to the individual level (McCallie & McKinzie, 1999; Salter, Richards, and Carey, 2003). As Kearsley and Blomeyer (2004) document, much of this research has been focused on the higher education sector. However, with the curriculum mandate to integrate technology into the K – 12 classroom and the pressures of decreased budgets and resources, school boards, districts and institutions are recognizing the need to invest in building the capacity of their teachers to work online. One of the much-anticipated outcomes of these investments is teachers who are capable of building, facilitating, and integrating online courseware into their teaching practice – whether fully online or in blended learning scenarios (Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001; McCallie & McKinzie, 1999). Currently, these outcomes are ones that are not taught in teacher preparation programs. “Ultimately, teachers may receive adequate training to teach online as part of their basic teacher preparation (i.e., at schools of education); however, this is not likely to be true within the near future”(Kearsley & Blomeyer, 2004, p. 52). As a result, professional development providers have had to begin to transform practicing teachers to work online. This research reports on one such online professional development program, the ePD program, offered by Innovative Learning Services 1 (ILS), part of the Calgary Board of Education in Alberta, Canada. It is important to note that the initial research phases have been documented (Crichton & Childs, 2003) however, this paper reports on the entire research agenda, its findings and their implications on practice. The challenge with the task of preparing teachers to be online educators is that not only are there few models to guide the development of such programs, but there is also a scant literature base to inform the pedagogical requirements and design these efforts. The skills, knowledge and abilities that are required by a K-12 teacher teaching in the online environment are just beginning to be investigated, as is the method by which K-12 teachers need to build their capacity as online educators (Crichton & Childs, in press; Kearsley & Blomeyer, 2004). Consequently, as Stein et al. (1999) comment “meeting these goals and standards will require a great deal of learning on the part of practicing teachers, the vast majority of whom were taught and learned to teach under a different paradigm of instruction and learning (p.237). The work of Crichton and Childs (in press) begins to illuminate what this different paradigm of instruction and learning requires on the part of the teacher by discussing what teachers in the online environment see as the required skills, knowledge and abilities for this setting. They found that practicing online teachers identified previous experience as a learner in the online environment, content expertise, online management skills, time for reflection and practice and online social skills as requirements for the preparation of online educators. Many of these findings are supported by the characteristics of an e-pedagogy as defined by Good (2001), Salmon (2000) and Schofield, (2001) and are echoed in the current efforts to integrate faculty development in pedagogy and technology (Salter et al. 2003). In the K-12 environment however, the literature based to support online capacity building for teachers appears scant. Denning et al. (2003) suggest that creating online professional development opportunities for teachers to build their capacity as online course developers, facilitators and integrators of technology in their practice is an extension of the work done over the past 15 years to integrate technology into the classroom. However, currently much of the work being done to support building teacher capacity for the online environment seems to focus on supporting teachers to: (1) develop their technology skills, (2) build electronic resource materials for use in the 1
Innovative Learning Services is a department within the Calgary Board of Education to provide adult, continuing education and most recently, high school courses.
traditional classroom (Denning et al., 2003), and (3) create isolated online content or learning objects (Childs & Hamilton 2002; McCallie & McKinzie, 1999). Focusing on the skills, knowledge and abilities required of online educators and preparing teachers accordingly is an area that Kearsley and Blomeyer (2004) identify as one in need of further research and consequently, it is not surprising that there are few programs which document this process (Childs & Crichton, 2003; MacLaughlin, 2002). As well, there are many initiatives nationally that have had the challenge of building the capacity of teachers to support their online educational offerings. Alberta Distance Learning Centre and the Concord Consortium are two such settings, but as is the case with many in the field, the act of doing the work means that there is simply no time to write up the results of their efforts (Merriam, 1998). This research focuses on a professional development program that initially was created in order to meet the need for online educators within the Calgary Board of Education to support their online course offerings, and it is free of charge to Calgary Board of Education teachers. It has evolved into an expanding suite of course offerings that support the development of online educators and other teachers who wish to integrate technology into their classes in a blended model (C. Faber, personal communications, July 19, 2003). As a result, the program has expanded its mandate and developed a business plan to include, at a cost, teachers from other jurisdictions as well as participants from other sectors (Innovative Learning Systems, 2002). Based on the literature and the previous experiences of the research, the online environment is a learning environment with different characteristics and possibilities than previously available to teachers (Reyes-Mendez et al., 2003). Teachers are now being asked to create learning opportunities in this environment for their students (Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001), and this environment is not the one in which they learned how to teach (Stein et al., 1999). As a result, there is a requirement to support them as they develop their own new models for teaching with, for and in this online environment. The ePD offered by Innovative Learning Services, is a program that attempts to do just that and as such, provides a basis for investigating a method and the associated impact of building the capacity of teachers as online educators through online professional development.
The Study The research presented here is a case study into the ePD practices situated within the ePD program offered by Innovative Learning Services in Calgary, Alberta Canada. Innovative Learning Services is the Calgary Board of Education's (CBE) provider of adult and continuing education, as well as the board's online high school. In 1999, Innovative Learning Services introduced an ePD program initially to retrofit practicing teachers for the online environment to support their distance programs. The need for teachers with these skills was expressed from those in the field and these needs were used to craft the original ePD program. Since it’s inception, the ePD program has also worked to assist educators with the incorporation of virtual learning opportunities into their existing classroom practices. At that time, Alberta teachers were beginning to integrate Information Communication Technology (ICT) outcomes into their classroom practice due to a provincially mandated professional growth initiative. Both the content and delivery format of the ePD program are designed to meet the needs of educators who see the value of incorporating virtual learning in their work with students. The philosophy that underlies the ePD model at Innovative Learning Services is drawn from the concepts of learning organizations and includes an emphasis on personal mastery as a primary factor in participant success. At the time of the initial ePD course launch in 1999, teachers were preparing to integrate Information Communication Technology2 (ICT) outcomes into their classroom practice and there was an increase in online course offerings being provided by Chinook College (Program Developer A Interview, January 21, 2003). Since 1999, Innovative Learning Services has responded to the increased need for teachers with these skills and expanded the ePD program to include six courses that, upon completion, result in a Teaching and Learning Online Certificate. Innovative Learning Services has recently been approved as a provider for professional development activities for the Ontario College of Teachers Professional Learning program. They have also partnered with a local University to offer participants in the ePD program the opportunity to supplement ePD course work with graduate research and theory for course credit toward a Master’s of Education degree. To date, over 352 educators have completed one or more of the ePD courses. All ePD courses are offered in the online environment, drawing participants from public and private schools, colleges, and universities as well as private enterprise. The ePD program reports that it has achieved some success as evidenced by expanding enrollments and district support. However, whether this program
2
This is the Alberta Learning Information and Communications Technology program of studies. For more details please see http://www.learning.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bysubject/ict/
has actually impacted the teaching practices of its participants has not yet been examined and therefore, is the focus of the current research study3 . The purpose of our research is to determine whether online professional development (ePD) aids in building the capacity of teachers as online educators. It also examines the impact an online professional development program (ePD) has on the teaching practices of its participants. The overall research question is “how does online professional development for online educators impact their teaching practice? The ePD research design was informed by the traditions of ethnography (Patton, 1990), case study research (Merriam, 1998) and frame and code analysis (Goffman, 1959, 1974). This research study is grounded in the literature of teacher professional development, teacher change and the characteristics and requirements of the online learning environment. This literature recognizes that teaching in the online environment requires a new model of teaching (Reyes-Mendez et al., 2003; Salmon, 2000) and consequently, practicing teachers need to experience this new model of teaching as a learner first (Childs & Crichton, 2004; Crichton & Childs, 2003). This research is also framed with a constructivist lens which suggests that it is the active engagement of the participants which should inform the work and the subsequent development of further learning activities for fellow practitioners (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The constructivist philosophy aligns with characteristics of the new models of professional development identified by Darling-Hammond & Sykes (1999) and Lieberman and Miller (2001). It is also consistent with the view of ethnography, which argues “society is to be seen as socially constructed on the basis of how its members make sense of it and not as an object-like reality” (Walsh, 1998, p. 218). Due to the bounded nature of the ePD program and the holistic, descriptive nature of the research questions, a case study methodology was adopted in order to examine the impact one online professional development program had on the teaching practices of its participants. As Merriam (1998) suggests, “case study design is employed to gain an in-depth understanding of the situation and meaning for those involved. The interest is in process rather than outcomes, in context rather than a specific variable, in discovery rather than confirmation” (Merriam, 1998, p. 19). The nature of the research questions in this study also supports the choice of a case study methodology given that the objective of assessing the impact the ePD program had on the teaching practice of its participants is to develop a better understanding of the dynamics the ePD program. The research was conducted in five phases. Initially, the literature of the field was reviewed in order to identify potential areas for further consideration in the interviews. In phase two, the program developers of the ePD program were interviewed to identify the intentions of ePD program and discuss how those have been modified or adjusted over time. The stated intentions determined from the initial interviews were combined with the literature from the field of online professional development in order to develop a survey for the participants of ePD experience. In phase three, all individuals who completed an ePD course were emailed the survey. This was used to determine what Merria m (1998) refers to as the “sample within the case” (p. 65). Responses to the survey were consolidated and analyzed (Childs & Crichton, 2004) and, based on the criteria discussed above, were used as a sorting mechanism to identify interview participants. Phase four involved respondents being approached for a follow up interview based on three criteria: still employed by the CBE, completed one or more ePD courses and currently teaching online or in a hybrid manner. This interview further explored the impact of the ePD program on their teaching practice. Phase five was a follow-up interview with program developers and it concluded the data collection. The research methods include the use of digital video clips to maintain interview authenticity and accuracy. This allowed the researcher to review and consider the actual words and intonation of the participants during analysis. It was felt that this would decrease the risks associated with the transcription of digitally captured interview data such as misinterpretation, transcription errors and loss of contextual cues (Merriam, 1998) and keep the richness of not only what was said, but how it was said. The work of Crichton and Kinash (2003) on virtual ethnography supports this approach to data analysis as it “allo ws for the construction of in-depth depictions of the events of the every day life of people” (p.1).
3
It is important to note that Innovative Learning Services supports and encourages this research as an outsiders’ investigation into its practice.
Research Findings Using Goffman’s frame and code analysis (1959, 1974) the data were analyzed and the findings were situated in the literature and the data itself. Analysis of the participant and program developers interview data supported the frames and codes outlined in Table 1 and confirmed their relevance in this research. Frame Fundamentals
Code Vision and Values
Change and Impact
Purpose of Online Professional Development Changed Practice
Program Design
Changed Role in Schools Scalability External Program Support Life Cycle Management
Implementation and Use
Use of ePD Skills
Learning Culture and Sense of Community
Community of Learners
General Description A shared picture of the ePD program that includes a shared set of inherent beliefs and assumptions about teaching, learning and the role of the teacher. Characteristics of online teachers and the rationale for doing online professional development to build capacity of online teachers. Evidence of teacher change and/or indicators of the specific impact of the ePD program on individual teaching practice including a change in beliefs about teaching and learning. Teachers taking on new roles and/or leadership functions in their schools. Program growth management and process development to support ePD program growth beyond the core team. Recognition for and respect of online professional development within the system, by the system and by the teachers. ePD content and program development, maintenance, and refreshment, including the development of processes to support new courseware development, requirements for continued support for online teachers and incorporate course and program feedback into course and program redesign. Physical evidence of ways teachers are using the skills, knowledge and abilities gained in the ePD program within their teaching practice, including the methods they use to innovate their current teaching practice as a result of their experience in the ePD course(s). Development of a learning community in the ePD courses and program including roles and responsibilities of community members, and issues of support for a sustained community of learners.
Table 1. Final Frames and Codes for ePD Research The research questions that guide this research, have an overarching goal of developing an understanding of the impact this online professional development program had on the teaching practice of its participants. The development of the five frames and their associated codes outlined in Table 1 provide a way to analyze and understand the experience and practices of the teachers within this study. Four research conclusions are drawn: (1) Be an Online Learner First and Build Online Educator Capacity Online. The experiences of the ePD participants, as documented in this research, suggest that online professional development allows teachers to work and teach online, a key value of the ePD program within Innovative Learning Services. This experience was also instrumental in teachers developing their model of practice for this new learning environment. If teachers are now being asked to leverage new tools in new ways as discussed in Chapter Two, then this research conclusion suggests that ePD is essential in exposing teachers to the issues, possibilities and opportunities of blended and online learning for their students. (2) Impact Teaching Practice using Online Professional Development. The conclusions drawn from this research support the above argument and advocate for online professional development as a model for building the capacity of teachers as online educators.
(3) Support the Development of Online Educators (indicators include infrastructure, recognition of online professional development and recruitment of facilitators). If the ePD program is to be supported by teachers in its vision to build the capacity of teachers as online educators, then ePD program participants need to be provided with the infrastructure that enables them to use and continue to build on and enhance their ePD skills. Based on the participants’ comments, moving some teacher professional development to the online environment within the Calgary Board of Education would have to be done in parallel with the development of Board policy that recognizes, supports and validates the hours spent doing online professional development by teachers. Consequently, for the ePD model, one that is built on the value of modeling effective online teaching practice and strategies, it is essential that the facilitators adopt those best practices and support the values and philosophy of the program. (4) Investigate the Perceived Lack of Value of Community Online. One of the most interesting findings that emerged from this research is the lack of emphasis placed by ePD research participants on the need to develop a community online. This runs contrary to the literature on effective online learning environments (Palloff & Pratt, 1999, 2001) as well as the best practices literature of online learning evidenced in postsecondary education (Salter et al. 2003) and documented by the works of Childs and Hamilton (2002), Salmon (2000). This research conclusion diverges from the findings of the wider body of literature in the field and has the possibility of impacting subsequent online efforts within the Calgary Board of Education for teacher professional development level. It brings into question whether community is necessary for online professional development within the Calgary Board of Education. Due to the variety and complexity of the variables that impact the creation of a learning community in the ePD courses, no firm conclusion can be reached on the requirement of community in a model for online professional development for teachers. Areas for future research include investigating the impact of online professional development for teachers on their students’ achievement as well as examining further the lack of value as identified by the ePD participants of an online community in the ePD course(s). This finding runs contrary to the literature on effective online learning environments (Childs et al. 2002; Palloff & Pratt, 1999, 2000; Salmon, 2000) and the experiences of online learning evidenced in post-secondary education and documented by the works of Salmon (2000) and others discussed in Chapter Two. A variety of complex factors are at play with respect to the creation of a learning community in the ePD courses. When combined with the lack of clarity surrounding the role of community as opposed to the role of collaboration in the online environment, it is plainly an area worthy of further examination. While outside the scope of this study, this finding raises questions such as: (1) can you design for a community or does community come from a task, (2) what role does collaboration play, and (3) is community developed or does it evolve? Examining the nature, extent and impact of this finding on teacher professional development, independent of its mode of delivery, is a necessary area for future research. Through the synthesis and interpretation of the research data, the findings suggest that the ePD program made an impact on the teaching practice of its participants. As one participant in this research clearly states “Online PD is essential. It has to be that. That’s the environment that you’re working in, why wouldn’t you do your PD in that environment? (Participant I Interview, May 9, 2003).
Summary This research investigated how one online professional development program for K-12 teachers impacted teaching practice. To do so, it employed the traditions of ethnography (Patton, 1990), case study research (Merriam, 1998) and frame and code analysis (Goffman, 1959, 1974) in an attempt to provide a holistic account of the real-life phenomenon of online professional development for online educators. Supported by evidence from the literature of teacher change, teacher professional development, online educator requirements and the experiences of the ePD participants, the findings of this research suggest that the ePD program did have an impact on the teaching practice of its participants. This impact was described and interpreted across five frames and their associated codes see Table 4, which were supported by the literature and validated by the experiences of the interviewees. The frames include: (1) Fundamentals, (2) Change and Impact, (3) Program Design, (4) Implementation and Use, and (5) Learning Culture and Sense of Community. The research conclusions impact the scalability of the ePD program offered by the Calgary Board of Education in the following ways: (1) they raise the need to develop a common vision with the Calgary Board of
Education for teacher professional development, (2) they identify a requirement for increased external program support for online teacher professional development including recognition of participation in online professional development and increased access to infrastructure to use new skills, and (3) they illustrate the need for teachers to be willing to change their practice in order for teacher professional development to impact practice. As suggested throughout this research, the online teaching and learning environment has different characteristics and possibilities than those previously available in traditional educational settings (Reyes-Mendez et al., 2003). Consequently, as teachers are now being asked to create online learning opportunities for their students (Advisory Committee for Online Learning, 2001), in an environment that is not familiar (Stein et al. 1999), there is a requirement to support them as they develop their own new models for teaching with, for, and in this online environment. The ePD program offered by the Calgary Board of Education in Alberta, Canada appears to be a model that attempts to provide this type of support. Understanding online teaching and the subsequent development of online educators is a complex process. This research set out to examine how one online professional development program allowed teachers to experience online teaching and learning, which they were not familiar with and had not experienced as learners, in order to develop their capacity to teach in the online environment. The findings from this research suggest that the ePD program provided by the Calgary Board of Education has done just that. Whether this model can be sustained over time, given its increased mandate remains to be seen. However, it is clear from the data collected within the scope of this research that the ePD program was worthwhile, had value and did result, by the admission of the participants themselves, in changed teaching practice.
References Advisory Committee for Online Learning (2001). The e-learning e-volution in Colleges and Universities: A Pan Canadian Challenge. (Industry Canada Cat. No. C2-549/2001E). Childs, E., & Crichton, S. (2003). Online Professional Development for Online Educators: Does it Change Teaching Practice. Proceedings of Elearn, Phoenix, 3. Childs, E. A., Dewar, T., Hamilton, D., & Whittington, D. (October 15, 2002). How to Turn Blended Learning Challenges into High Quality Learning Opportunities. Paper presented at the meeting of the E-Learn World Conference on e-learning in Corporations, Government, Health Care and Higher Education. Montreal, PQ. Childs, E. & Hamilton, D. (2002). Teachers Teaching Teachers How to Teach Online: The Inukshuk Project. In Alberta Online Consortium Proceedings, Edmonton, AB: October 30 – 31, 2002. Coppola, N., Hiltz, S., Rotter, N. (2002). Becoming a Virtual Professor: Pedagogical Roles and Asynchronous Learning Networks. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18 (4),169-189. Crichton, S., & Childs, E. (in press). Teachers as Online Educators: Requirements for Distributed Learning and Teacher Preparation. Educational Technology. Crichton, S., & Kinash, S. (2003). Virtual Ethnography: Interactive Interviewing Online as Method. Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, 29(2) 101-115. Darling-Hammond, L., & Sykes, G. (Eds.). (1999). Teaching as the Learning Profession. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Denning, T., Fisher, T., Higgins, C., Johnson, M., Loveless, A., & Tweats, R. (2003 March 27). Online Continuing Professional Development for Teachers: Fact or Fantasy? Paper presented at the meeting of the SITE Conference #14. Albuquerque, NM. Epper, R. & Bates, T. (2001). Teaching Faculty How to Use Technology: Best Practices from Leading Institutions. American Council on Education. Oryx Press.
Goffman, E. (1959). The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. New York, NY: DoubleDay. Goffman, E. (1974). Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. New York, NY: Harper Colophon. Good, M. (2001). On the Way to Online Pedagogy. In J. Stephenson (Ed.), Teaching and Learning Online: Strategies for New Technologies (pp. 165-174). London, UK: Kogan Page. Innovative Learning Services (August 27, 2003). Innovative Learning Services Strategic Plan. Calgary, AB: Innovative Learning Services. Kearsley, G., & Blomeyer, R. (2004). Preparing K-12 Teachers to Teach Online. Educational Technology, JanFeb(1), 49-52. Lieberman, A., & Miller, L. (2001). Introduction. In A. Lieberman & L. Miller (Eds.), Teachers Caught in the Action (pp. vii-x). New York, NY: Teachers College Press. MacLaughlan, D. (2002). Professional Development for e-Learning. ADETA 3, p. 16. McCallie, T., & McKinzie, L. (1999). Teaching Online: A Professional Development Model. In SITE 1999 # 10, San Antonio,TX: Feb 28–Mar 4, 1999. Merriam, S. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Palloff, R., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building Learning Communities in Cyberspace. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Palloff, R. & Pratt, K. (2000). Making the Transitions: Helping Teachers to Teach Online. In EDUCAUSE 2000: Thinking IT Through Proceedings. Nashville: TN Oct 10-12, 2000. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative Evaluation Methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Reyes-Mendez, J. J., Torres-Velandia, A., Harrison, L., & Moonah, J. (2003). A Framework for the Pedagogical Evaluation of Online Courses: Implications for Web-based Teaching and Learning. Proceedings of ELearn, Phoenix, 8, 299-302. Robinson, B. & Latchem, C. (Eds.) (2003). Teacher Education Through Open and Distance Learning. New York: Routledge Falmer. Salmon, G. (2000). E-Moderating. The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. London: Kogan Page. Salter, D., Richards, L., & Carey, T. (2003). A Task-Based Approach to Integrate Faculty Development in Pedagogy and Technology. Proceedings of ELearn, Phoenix, 8, 1156-1159. Schofield, K., Melville, B., Bennet, D., & Walsh, A. (2001). Professional Practices Online: Renovating Past Practices or Building New Ones? Proceedings of the AVETRA Conference, Adelaide, 4(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED456312) Sherry, L, Shelley, B., Tavalin, F & Gibson, D. (2000). New Insights on Technology Adoption in Communities of Learners. In SITE 2000 Proceedings # 11, San Diego: CA: Feb 8– 12, 2000. Stein, M. K., Schwan Smith, M., & Silver, E. A. (1999). The Development of Professional Developers: Learning to Assist Teachers in New Settings in New Ways. Harvard Educational Review, 69(3), 237-269. Walsh, D. (1998). Doing Ethnography. In C. Seale (Ed.), Researching Society and Culture (pp. 217-232). London, UK: Sage.