Why CE Credits Online For Administators



Why Administrators Should Choose CE Credits Online to Meet Their Staff’s Professional Development Needs

With the prevalence of technology, administrators and educators can now find online learning available everywhere—from universities to online websites. Before making a decision to use this delivery system, the first question to consider is how does online learning compare to traditional face-to-face workshops or courses? The U.S. Department of Education recently released their meta-analysis and review of online learning studies wherein they found that online learning, particularly professional development for teachers, was at the very least comparable and often superior to face-to-face courses and workshops. Please visit http://www.ed.gov/rschstat/eval/tech/evidence-based-practices/finalreport.pdf to read their analysis and review.

If online professional development can be superior to face-to-face delivery, the next question is how does the administrator and educator become a discerner of quality online professional development? What does one look for? As more online professional development options become available, it is imperative to become a discerning consumer.  The Southern Regional Education Board has defined Standards for Online Professional Development.  Please visit their site http://publications.sreb.org/2004/04T04-Standards_Online_Prof_Dev.pdf to see what they have to say about what quality online professional development.

Quality online experiences must contain all the components that result in changing practices and behaviors to improve student outcomes and enhance both the teaching and learning experiences in the classroom. There must be:

  • components for practice and rehearsal of skills—for implementation;
  • self-assessments and final assessments to gauge the progress of the learning;
  • opportunities for reflecting on the new learning and its implementation;
  • built-in occasions for feedback on the new learning and its implementation;
  • measures for gathering and examining data to validate the progress of professional learning;
  • time for the investment in technology infrastructures, training, and applied learning to “pay off”;
  • responsiveness to educators’ needs, both in content and technically;
  • opportunities for educators to develop and participate in cultures of continuous change—so that they can prepare students to adapt to a world where knowledge and learning and attendant skills rapidly change; and
  • time for interaction and collaboration with colleagues, both online and off line.

CE Credits Online courses contain all of these components and provide professional learning and support in the following ways:

  • Educators are immediately engaged in the new learning, because all courses require job-embedded exercises where new information and techniques are practiced.
  • Educators describe the courses as timely and relevant because the content focuses on the skills they need: planning, delivering, assessing.
  • Content remains consistent and is presented with multi-modality learning and modeling via processes of show, tell, do, reflect, and receive feedback.
  • Every educator receives one-to-one feedback in the electronic classroom on what they are implementing in their classroom and what they have learned.
  • The work of the courses is skill-building, with a focus on meeting national and state standards and requirements.  
  • Educators learn to think about what, why and how they teach and assess (Wiggins’ enduring understanding and essential questions).
  • Educators learn to look at multiple sources of their students’ data as an indicator of what to teach and assess and a measure of how their students are progressing with the new learning.
  • Educators have a resource of research-based best practices that is theirs perpetually and as handy as access to the Internet.
  • Educators develop professional learning communities as they work and dialog with partners or teams.
  • The learning is sustained and ongoing over time, solidifying the learning experiences to change educators’ behaviors and practices.
  • The professional development occurs when and where the educators find it most convenient.
  • Educators remain in their workplace/classroom for professional development, using instructional time to rehearse/apply their intentional best practices from the new learning.
  • Online learning is cost and time effective to districts and individual educators.
  • Accessing information when it is convenient, research tells us, ensures the maximum learning and retention. All courses have open enrollment and all courses may be worked on at the educator’s convenience.

If you have already joined the growing numbers of administrators who are leading in a shift of their professional development paradigms to include learning that has all of the benefits of face-to-face training, plus some additional ones, then you will want to see how CE Credits Online can provide your district with high-quality content, delivered in a user-friendly format that is extremely cost effective? If your district hasn’t embraced online professional development, why not, especially when online professional development is

  • flexible, and responsive to district needs,
  • aligned with and supports other initiatives, and
  • efficient and cost effective