INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS

Look for these best practices which are just as important to the success of online training as they are to more traditional face-to-face professional development activity:

High Quality Content
Content comes first. The content of the training must be relevant to participants and have a strong research base. Look for practical and timely content that addresses the specific issues and needs of the participants.  (Note: Because online professional development means the critical mass doesn't have to come from one school or district, it makes it possible to implement data-driven training specific to an individual teacher or school.)

Accountability
Facilitated discussion boards, structured assignments, and clearly defined expectations for participation help participants become fully engaged in their learning. 

Community of Learners
Participants gain from sharing questions, ideas and experiences with each other. Professional development should include methods for making this sharing a requisite part of the learning process.  Once established, online communities of learners often outlast the professional development experience in which they were developed.

Sustained Learning
Frequent sessions over a longer period with time in-between sessions for assignment, reflection, and classroom practice yield the greatest results.

Classroom Modeling
Video clips of teachers working with students in the classroom add concrete examples of the course's ideas in practice. The video allows participants to see effective practice as well as to analyze what works and what doesn't in various settings.