Professional (Learning) Development Credit -

I think everyone who is involved in the ETT/WB community feels they are receiving professional development without the 'official' credit for the work.  What if we designed a course or courses to meet PLU requirements and enabled teachers to obtain credit for their participation?  Might this option appeal to any of the teachers you know?  In my own school there are people who feel their time is best spent when they can kill two birds with one stone by getting experience and credit simultaneously.  Having this kind of option available might open some doors to people other than loan rangers like us.  Admit it, you would do this for no pay forever if the system could sustain itself simply because you like to be on the cutting edge.  We are just the tip of the iceberg.  True expansion has to take into account other learning styles, needs and objectives. There may be people who find the current Outward Bound approach a little scary.  Instead of the whitewater/rappelling journey they may prefer to start with a self paced exploration with an experienced river guide.

Here's my general plan:

  1. Invite anyone who is interested in gaining or sharing their distance learning experience to join me
  2. Investigate various existing PD options/models
  3. Contact my county office, they recently outsourced PD and that company charges $60 for 3 PLU's which is 30 hours of work on line.
  4. Fnd out what makes a good online course, don't cringe, I'm thinking Oprah, no I didn't sign up for her program but look at all the interest she conjured in her lessons by making the conept seem very simple.  She converted email only users to webcast participants almost over night by creating trust and offering added value. It's worth considering how this kind of approach might work in getting teachers to sign up for webcast academy.  Centered on a book possibly? I can see some of you now, scowling at the thought!  Consider this, should ETT remain an exclusive club simply because the hurdles are to high/demanding for the average teacher?  If the answer is yes and we only want above average participants who are willing to take risks then I will quit while I'm ahead.
  5. Check out some 'virtual academies and examine their course structures.
  6. Get input from those of you who teach PD in your counties.  I do but typically it is part of a training block and I don't have to write up a separate course description.
  7. Create a template for a course that fits a PD model and get input from community
  8. Make the course a combination of real-time and research/experimentation much as it is now

Time Frame: Try to get a bulk of this info collected and sythesized by the end of June and toss around the findings in an open meeting.

I am open to any suggestions, additions, changes, just post them here, thx. k

 

 

I'm reasonably confident that we could offer graduate workshop credit for participation in the academy. While it would cost more money, it might be worth it, because grad credit is more widely accepted for license renewals and salary adjustments. At the very least, it could be offered as an option for those who are interested. As an Ashland University adjunct, I'm fairly certain that we could get a workshop approved (the form is here). For 30 hours of contact time, we could offer 2 hours of grad credit. The cost would be $326, and the university would handle registration online. There may also be other universities with similar programs. I know there are a lot of people in this community with various university affiliations, and maybe one of them knows of a better offer. Basically, we're just looking for an accredited institution to look at the academy offering and be willing to allow people who take the class to get credit. Thank you for spearheading this effort. It's something that will raise the level of professionalism in the academy, and it'll make it much more attractie to teachers who are considering enrollment.

Excellent suggestion John. I think offerring the PLU only and the Grad credit option would be good because some people want to get their req'd credits without spending too much money. On the other hand it would lend an air of credibility to position the course for grad credit. I will take a look at the form over the weekend. Thanks!

Check out OpenPD They offer a similar approach i think. mrsdurff

I wonder if they've investigated PD credit? They have a nice clean format and good ideas.

I really like the idea of offering professional development credit through ETT. There is so much talent here. I wouldn't be so quick to outsource the PD at this point. I think we can form partnerships with school districts for credential renewal etc.. I like the model that k12online started this year. http://itls.saisd.net/k12online/ There are some cool possibilities on the horizon, especially now that Jeff started our Moodle course for Webcast Academy http://webcastacademy.com So, what group is this again? Jose Rodriguez; It's Elementary

Jose, I like the k12online model as well. What are your ideas for making this happen at The Academy? I mentioned that in GA and elsewhere in the country the states has outsourcing the courses they can't offer internally. Here is the link to what is being offered in my area.http://www.kdsi.org/ecom/default.aspx?MClientID=110 It's rather limited. Kathy www.kinderteacher.podomatic.com

Not necessarily at the academy. The Webcast Academy has been fairly successful on it's own. We can use the Webcast Academy as a model. Susan Ettenheim and Cherly Oakes will be facilitating again this summer. I think we can start an ETT Academy or come up with another cool name for the place to offer PD under ETT.com Moodle. Regarding the partnerships; in my district we offer Online classes available to our district teachers. I can always offer a class through there with open enrollment for those outside the district. Again, my idea is to have the Academy / Professional Development Center to be housed and governed at ETT and NOT elsewhere. Jose Rodriguez; It's Elementary

I wish I could but my district will not recognize online PD (only online university course credits). They don't even recognize online PD from the local CTAP (regional technology centers for education in my state), that are part of the state education system.

I guess you have two choices; 1. change the system 2. Deal with it. I think I would find a way to change the system. One of my twitter friends from Kansas joined the tech overseeing committee at his district. His idea is to present ideas on technology from an instructional angle. His first objective is to get Skype unblocked for Educational use. It's NOT an easy battle! But, if not YOU then WHO? Jose Rodriguez; It's Elementary