July 2008 — Professional Development
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An Inside Job
"I wouldn't have had the knowledge to write the grant if I hadn't taken the course and come away with so many new ideas," Kessler says.
Kessler's efforts and successes demonstrate the impact that committed teacher leaders can have on their colleagues and their school. They become the point person for educators who have never taken an online course and may be reluctant technology users. Technology leaders like Kessler can not only allay teachers' fears, but can be on hand to help resolve any technical problems they may have when starting a course, and to provide moral support when teachers who are new to online learning feel intimidated, overwhelmed, or simply out of their element in the virtual education environment. Kessler has been invited to join the OPEN NH project leadership team, where she now provides an essential teacher perspective to the work of the project.
One teacher took her second-graders on a virtual field trip of Pompeii created by a colleague from a professional development course she took online.
While the majority of participants in OPEN NH courses are elementary and middle school teachers, a small but steady flow of high school teachers are discovering the benefits of e-learning. For example, six teachers at Merrimack Valley High School in Penacook, a village in the city of Concord, have participated. Science teacher Bonnie Morrissette enrolled in a course called Differentiating Instruction to Accommodate All Learning Styles in Science and came away with new resources and ideas to bring to her classroom.
"All the participants had a vast set of knowledge and experiences to share with one another," she says. "Reading about what works for other teachers in the same or different grade levels was a great experience."
Morrissette says she right away began using with her students the ideas for self-assessment that she was introduced to in the course. "My interest in how they learned best was evident to them, and they responded very positively. I use a number of different strategies to assess what they learned. I am able to see an increased level of participation and a renewed sense of ‘Oh, I get it' that I did not fully experience before taking the workshop."
Looking Ahead
To date, more than 400 teachers-- nearly 3 percent of all public school teachers employed in New Hampshire-- have enrolled in OPEN NH courses, and a quarter of them have taken more than one course. More than 20 school districts in the state have had four or more teachers take coursework online. As an increasing number of technology leaders become involved in online learning, we expect to see results that duplicate the positive impact that Susan Kessler has had at Chester Academy.
While teachers will continue to enjoy and participate in traditional, face-to-face learning, feedback from OPEN NH participants has taught us that they often prefer the online environment because it allows them the flexibility and convenience of time and location, while providing rich dialogue with their peers across the region and excellent resources they can use to engage students in their classrooms.
Cathy Higgins is the state educational technology director for the New Hampshire Department of Education.
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