Online Professional Development: Design, Deliver, Succeed!

Much-needed direction for navigating online professional development

Although many educators are on the fast track to embracing online professional development (OPD), choosing the best solution is not as simple as pushing a button. OPD expert John D. Ross′s practical framework will guide you through asking the right questions and making sound development and purchasing decisions. The book′s process is founded on proven principles of professional learning and instructional design. You will benefit from others′ experience and expertise while efficiently charting a cost-effective course to success. This reader-friendly guide provides a path to answering these fundamental questions:

• Why online professional development?
• How much does it cost?
• How do I get started?
• What does high-quality online learning look like?
• What technologies are right for me?
• How do I put it all together?
• Did it work?

Included are an OPD decision matrix, a step-by-step planning and implementation framework, "buyer beware" guidelines, and real-life case studies from successful OPD providers. Whether you want to purchase or create OPD, this time-saving resource will help you understand your financial options and confidently chart your course to success.

John Ross has been helping educators from the classroom to the state board room better understand how technology integration enhances school improvement efforts for more than a decade. Spearheading the 2004 launch of an online professional development environment for an educational non-profit, Dr. Ross has since designed and delivered online professional development that has gone to many thousands of educators in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. He has connected with educators across the nation through podcasts, webcasts, webconferences, social networks, dabbling in Second Life, and his blog.

Dr. Ross is the subject-matter expert for Principal Connections Online, an expanded, Web-based version of the popular training on technology integration for K-12 leaders. He worked with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) to design and develop the free, Web-based Data-Based Decision Making Tool: A Resource for Teachers (www.edvantia.org/dbdm), a comprehensive guide for developing and implementing school improvement efforts; and also developed the Web-based version of the K-12 Total Cost of Ownership, or TCO, Calculator (www.edvantia.org/tco), which is based on the work of the Integrated Technology in Education Group. He served as the director of the Institute for the Advancement of Emerging Technologies in Education and as the director of technology for the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC), both funded by the U.S. Department of Education, where he has educators at all levels investigate and incorporate new and emerging technologies in support of their work.

Dr. Ross is a frequent presenter in the field of educational technology at state and national conferences and has served as a consultant and trainer for teachers, administrators, and policymakers. He teaches an online graduate class he created about technology integration for Bethel University based on the textbook he co-authored with Dr. Katherine Cennamo from Virginia Tech and Dr. Peg Ertmer from Purdue. The textbook, Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach, is the first to address the revised National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Dr. Ross was a classroom teacher for 10 years and holds a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction and instructional technology from Virginia Tech.