How can online learning help with upgrading of teachers’ knowledge and skills?

Putting teachers in classrooms is one of the most pressing global education issues. To achieve universal primary education by 2015, UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics estimates the need for 8.2 million new primary-school teachers.

Getting teachers into the classrooms is one half of this (rather simplified) equation. Making sure these teachers are “good” is the more difficult challenge. “Goodness” or teacher quality is trickier to define, measure and develop. As such, most nations have used minimum certification as a proxy for teacher quality. But even by such a modest standard, the task is daunting. Pakistan, for example, needs to upgrade the qualifications of approximately one million teachers from its current two-year teaching diploma to a four-year Bachelor of Education degree by 2018. Indonesia faces an even more ambitious task—moving two million primary school teachers from a teaching diploma to the equivalent of a four-year Bachelor’s degree by 2015.

Online learning for teachers

Given the scope, scale, urgency, and cost of upgrading millions of teachers worldwide, educational planners have turned to online learning as a major vehicle for teacher upgrading. In addition to scale and cost efficiencies, it is reasoned, online learning can improve overall teacher quality by offering multimodal instruction (print, audio, video and other rich media); real-time teacher communication and collaboration; personalized and individualized instruction; and anytime, anyplace learning—all of which should result in upgraded qualifications and improved teacher quality.

All of the above is often true—except in the places where the need to upgrade teachers is greatest. In too many parts of the globe, Internet access is difficult, if not impossible. Bandwidth restrictions mean that online content is text-based—thus reinforcing theory over practical application of information. Too often teacher-learners participate in one-size-fits-all online learning programs. Most of all, they do this alone and without support, resulting in the high attrition rates we see in online programs and undermining the very upgrading process online learning is supposed to advance

How Internet-centric are we?

I’ve written previously about issues associated with online learning for teachers  (see Educational Technology Debate) but one of the greatest weaknesses may be our tendency toward “Internet-centrism” (Morozov, 2013)— an a priori belief in the superiority of technical solutions.  This Internet-centrism results in a number of tendencies that undermine the goals of teacher quality. First, it conveys the misleading belief that technology (alone or primarily)—versus addressing the more difficult human issues— can “fix” the human and institutional issues associated with teacher quality. Next, it often instills a false sense of complacency regarding the quality of formation teachers receive in an online learning program. It means that policymakers and planners often ignore more effective, though less “sexy” modes of technology-based learning in favor of web-based learning. Finally, and most importantly, while teachers can and do emerge from online programs with certification, this may not translate into actual improved quality (especially true with online diploma mills). In short, online learning, as evidenced in so many educational contexts, is far from the “disruptive innovation” (Christensen, et al. 2008) promised; rather it often perpetuates the very  status quo of low teacher quality—and at a high financial cost.

How to improve online learning for teachers?

Yet online learning offers reach and variety unmatched by any other technology tool, thus begging the question—how do we improve the quality of this potentially powerful teacher learning tool? I would suggest we begin to its two main components—the  technical element of online learning and the human element.

Broadband: Broadband connectivity is by far the greatest challenge associated with online learning—fewer than 10% of Asian, African and Middle Eastern households have fixed broadband connections (ITU, 2011).  [See Wikipedia for current and projected fixed broadband access and projections by country: http://bit.ly/A4SDFw]

Paradoxically, many nations with the greatest need for teacher upgrading—and who are using online learning—have low fixed broadband access and high prices. In some cases, like Indonesia, these costs are more than 100% of monthly per capita income. To begin to address such broadband constraints, governments can use the power of policy and regulation. They can prioritize access to broadband and online learning for teachers and students; develop national broadband strategies that prioritize high-quality service to educational institutions; promote competition among telecom providers; subsidize Internet provision to schools; and partake of infrastructure sharing.

Better bandwidth means teachers can begin to have access to the kinds of learning materials and experiences that demand high bandwidth: multimedia content that deepens teachers’ understanding of a concept; video-based models of new instructional methods; and real-time support, personalized learning, and collaboration through two-way video, videoconferencing and social networking. Improving the quality of Internet access would not only enhance the consumption of digital educational content, it could also jumpstart local production of educational digital content to feed a more robust local education market.

Online learning needs human interaction

Human Capacity:  But rich and multimodal content without a skilled instructor to help learners connect new information and models to their practice is of limited value. Thus, the human element of online learning—so often overlooked—demands particular attention. Instructors must be carefully selected and trained (not just a few technology training sessions as is currently common practice in many places).

To help online learners be successful, instructors must understand how the blend of technology, pedagogy, and content can provide meaningful learning experiences for learners.

Teachers must have the skills to provide active facilitation and technology-mediated support and know how to modify and transfer the instructional practices used in face-to-face settings for the online environment (Burns, 2011).

Similarly, online learners are often left to fend for themselves—many times with disturbingly high attrition rates as a result. Because online learning is often more unstructured, independent and technical than the hierarchical and traditional school systems from which teachers emerge and in which they teach, they often need intensive preparation to make it through an online program and to implement what they have learned in their classrooms.

A final consideration involves mindset. Online learning is not a “solution.” It is not a methodology. It is a tool. If we work to improve the functionality of the tool, the conditions in which we make use of the tool,  and the ability of the craftsman to use the tool, we may attain the elusive improvements in meaningful teacher quality for a larger number of beneficiaries than is presently the case.

This is the second blog post of a three-part series on technology-based professional development for teachers in developing countries. Read the previous post Listen to the radio… and Learn!

The next post will examine the use of cell phones for teacher learning

By Mary Burns

References

Burns, M. (2011). Distance education for teacher training: Modes, models and methods. Washington, D.C.: Education Development Center, Inc. Available from http://go.edc.org/07xd

Christensen, C. M., Horne, M.B., & Johnson, C.W.  (2008). Disrupting class: How disruptive innovation will change the way the world learns. New York, NY: McGraw Hill

Educational Technology Debate. (2012, July-August). Distance education for teachers. Available from http://bit.ly/Ofp26f

International Telecommunications Union. (2011). The world in 2011: ICT facts and figures. Available from http://bit.ly/12l8GP2

Morozov, E. (2013). To save everything, click here: The folly of technological solutionism. New York, NY: Public Affairs