Research

In developing the pilot, a number of different PD models were researched. One article, Adapting ABE Professional Development to the Internet by Jane Martel, provided the impetus to consider online professional development or ‘e-PD’. In 2001, the Kentucky Department for Adult Education and Literacy piloted a ‘blended’ PD course – online learning followed up by a face-to- face meeting. One of the attractive features of e-PD for the Department was its flexibility. Online courses could be started at any time of the year and offered day or night; teachers did not have to wait for scheduled face-to-face sessions. Because of this, peer relationships across the state could be easily and quickly developed. Another attractive feature was that participants’ incoming level of knowledge could be raised in a more uniform way. Participants would complete work in advance to be prepared for the face-to face meeting. This meant that materials and assignments had to be provided to participants well in advance too.

While funding didn’t allow for bringing participants together face-to- face for this phase of the project, it was decided that the CSC would investigate the potential of e-PD. If proven effective, this method (using AlphaCom) could provide an alternate and relatively inexpensive means of providing PD to LBS college practitioners across the province. The pilot would benefit from the lessons learned by the Kentucky experience although the pilots were in many ways quite different.

Another article that influenced the approach and structure of the pilot was, Does Adult Educator Professional Development Make a Difference? by Sandra Kerka. This paper says that the field of adult education in the United States seems to be moving away from discrete training events that simply provide information and knowledge to “practitioner engagement in sustained knowledge construction and collaboration involving professionally meaningful questions.” [1] Examples include practitioner inquiry and action research. The article also identifies key elements that positively influence these kinds of approaches to professional development.

They include:

• Voluntary participation
• An extended time scale
• Small group size
• Embeddedness in issues that are professionally meaningful

In developing the e-PD Reading and Response Pilot, the consultant attempted to incorporate these elements along with a number of specific suggestions from the Kentucky experience.