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Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers: Potential Uses of Information Technology, Report of a Workshop (2007)

A National Research Council planning committee hosted a 1.5-day workshop to "explore a particular approach to the improvement of teacher professional development: the use of online learning technologies." "This report is written as a narrative rather than chronologically to highlight the major themes that emerged from the presentations and from the rich discussions that occurred in both plenary and breakout sessions throughout the 1.5 days."

"The workshop had several major goals. It sought to define the boundaries of OTPD (online teacher professional development), in part by examining online programs that are already in place. It explored how online professional development could meet the varied needs of teachers throughout their careers and in a range of settings. The workshop also investigated the drawbacks and barriers to online approaches that have limited them to date and could continue to do so in the future. Perhaps most important, the workshop was specifically designed to provide significant participation by and input from classroom teachers..."

Note that this report is available for purchase and for reading online or downloading as a pdf without cost at the link above.