Yesterday Education Week published an excellent article by Stephen Sawchuck on the proliferation of online opportunities for professional development. Sawchuck writes, "Although no solid data are available on how many teachers receive staff training either partly or exclusively online, the professional-development marketplace has undergone an explosion in offerings. School districts now face a bewildering array of options for offering online professional development, so much so that the term by its very ambiguity can mask the potential and the challenges lurking in online formats."

In the article, several leading voices in the field of online learning discuss the benefits and challenges of such options, including PBS TeacherLine's Melinda George and Christopher Dede of Harvard. NSDC's Joellen Killion commented, "One of the things we've been nervous about with online learning is that it could set us back decades where districts purchase access to a series of online courses for teachers, and teachers go home at night and sit alone in front of their computers, answering questions all in isolation."

"That is the kind of online learning that I think is dangerous," she says, "and does not reflect any of the things we support about collaborative learning connected to classrooms."

Does your experience with online professional learning reflect the concerns and benefits covered in the article?

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