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"This Clearinghouse is a collaborative effort led by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and the Michigan Virtual Learning Research InstituteTM (MVRLITM) to provide a repository of references to research articles and other publications from the field of K-12 online and blended learning. This project has been made possible by generous financial support from Next Generation Learning Challenges and in-kind support from iNACOL and the Michigan Virtual University."

This is an invaluable resource.

"n order to provide enough time for teachers to work together effectively, such models frequently require schools to overhaul their schedules or arrange for a delayed-start time (Sawchuk, Nov. 10, 2010b; Sawchuk, March 3, 2010). Such practices can be paired with other opportunities for deepening practice, including observing fellow teachers and working one-on-one with classroom-based "coaches," or content experts (Keller, 2007). Other variations of site-based professional development include the Japanese practice of lesson study, in which a teacher creates and teaches a model lesson. The lesson is observed and sometimes videotaped so that colleagues can analyze the lesson's strengths and weaknesses and determine how to strengthen the lesson (Viadero, 2004). Hard data on which professional-development models lead to better teaching are difficult to come by. In essence, professional development relies on a two-part transfer of knowledge: It must inculcate in teachers new knowledge and skills such that they change their behavior, and those changes must subsequently result in improved student mastery of subject matter. Unsurprisingly, the complex nature of those transactions renders the field of professional development a challenging one to study. Much of the research conducted on professional development continues to be descriptive rather than quantitative (Sawchuk, Nov. 10, 2010c). "

"Research into designing effective professional learning has grown out of a larger body of work focused on what constitutes effective professional learning (i.e. learning that positively impacts student achievement). Researchers have identified common features of effective professional learning that are likely to produce the most benefits for learners"

"Research for Practitioners: Are There Basic Principles Across All Instructional Design Models?"

The resources at the bottom of the article are good.

Barbara Means' book. Viraj and I will likely read it.

The academically peer refereed Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects (IJELLO) - formerly Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects - endeavors to provide readers around the world with the widest possible coverage of developments in E-Learning and Learning Objects, as shown in our mission statement. . IJELLO is an interdisciplinary forum that publishes high quality articles on theory, practice, innovation, and research that cover all aspects of E-Learning and Learning Objects.

"oday's education system includes ingrained practices, including policy and decades-old methods, that prevent schools from moving to competency-based models. Solutions to this problem include: Creating and making available educational resources on competency-based learning. These resources might be best practices, rubrics or tools, or research. Convening a coalition of League of Innovative Schools districts that are working to build successful competency-based models. Creating a technical solution for flexible tracking of competencies and credits. Problem No. 2: Leadership doesn't always support second-order change, and those in potential leadership roles, such as teachers and librarians, aren't always empowered to help effect change. Solutions to this problem include: Promoting League of Innovative Schools efforts to enable second-order change leadership Creating a framework, to be used in professional development, that would target and explain second-order change leadership discussions Schedule panel discussions about second-order change leadership Problem No. 3: Communities and cultures are resistant to change, including technology-based change Solutions to this problem include: Identifying new and engaging ways to share cutting-edge and tech-savvy best practices with school and district stakeholders and community members Involve business leaders in technology-rich schools and create school-business partnerships Look to influential organizations to spearhead national ed-tech awareness campaigns Problem No. 4: Education budgets aren't always flexible enough to support the cost, sustainability, or scalability of innovations Solutions to this problem include: Build relationships with local businesses and career academies, and create incentives for companies to hire students, in order to create a revenue stream for schools Look to competitive pricing and creative solutions Leaders must not be afraid t

"Using a Conversational Tone in your eLearning Courses Thursday, 02 October 2014 14:50 Written by Ruth McElhone In my last blog post, I explored the Modality Principle from the book Elearning and the Science of Instruction by Ruth Colvin Clark and Richard Mayer. In this post, I've decided to examine another principle in the book - the Personalisation Principle in Chapter 8. The chapter examines 3 types of personalisation principles but I'm just going to review the first principle. The first Personalisation Principle in this chapter supports using a conversational style of writing in our online modules. Using a conversational writing style can help explain the content in simple, plain English. "Based on cognitive theory and research evidence, we recommend that you create or select e-Learning courses that include some spoken or printed text that is conversational rather than formal." (Clark and Mayer, 2011) There has always been some debate that if we put content in a conversational or informal style, this can 'detract from the seriousness of the message'. Just because you are using an informal style does not mean that the content should be sloppy or use slang terms. It's all about keeping things simple. It should feel like a conversation, not a lecture while still feeling professional."

"Designing for Deeper Learning: How to Develop Performance Tasks for the Common Core Instructors: Raymond L. Pecheone, Professor of Practice at the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and Executive Director of the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) Daisy Martin, Director of History/Social Studies Performance Assessment at SCALE Ruth Chung Wei, Director of Assessment Research and Development at SCALE You can take this course for free! Starting September 08, 2014 "

Research Questions 1. What are educators' perceptions and reported behaviors associated with participation in informal, online professional development networks? 1.a. What motivates educators to participate in informal professional development networks? 1.b. What types of informal professional development networks do educators report they use to connect with other educators to enhance their practice? 1.c. What specific informal professional development networks do educators report they find most useful in order to improve their practice? 2. Do educators' perceptions and reported behaviors associated with informal professional development networks differ based on current assignment, years in education, or age? "

"1. Understand the Goal of the Course This the main reason why you are creating the course - it's the primary objective. Make sure everyone is on the same page as to the purpose of the elearning. 2. Collect Content Assess what content currently exists and map that against what needs to be created. The gaps you discover are what need to be covered in the course content. 3. Define the Learning Objectives Each course should have objectives, and those objectives should relate back to the overall goal of the elearning program as defined in #1. 4. Create Assessment Criteria What good is elearning without measuring its effectiveness? Before creating courses, you should define what you will measure, and how this data will be collected. 5. Use Templates Where Possible For your storyboard, and courses, you should use elearning templates to help speed-up content development. Templates also let you focus on the content instead of the design - perfect for tight timelines. 6. Choose a Design Model Certainly optional, but it is helpful to understand the lifecycle of your course development, and models like ADDIE or SAM can ensure everyone is on the same page as to development and delivery expectations. 7. Select Design Elements Are you going to rely on simulations, videos, graphics, and text? If so, define each of the elements in accordance to the material you are going to deliver. For example, software training via elearning often benefits from simulations. 8. Choose an Authoring Tool There are many out there (Articulate, Captivate, iSpring, etc.), so you'll want to do your research on which tool is ideal for your situation - including type of content, timeline, and budget."

Well, check out the co-author on the second piece, our very own Liz Glowa! Liz, apart from your piece, of course, any other documents here important for us to read?

Actually, I wrote the paper and Susan wrote the Introduction . I bookmarked the research data base and will bookmard a SREB pub that I think is important for PD.

Shared by Britt Neuhaus. Links to full report on blended learning and the role humans play in it.

"Questions of quality in repositories of open educational resources: a literature review" Javiera Atenasa,b* and Leo Havemannc Abstract Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials which are freely available and openly licensed. Repositories of OER (ROER) are platforms that host and facilitate access to these resources. ROER should not just be designed to store this content - in keeping with the aims of the OER movement, they should support educators in embracing open educational practices (OEP) such as searching for and retrieving content that they will reuse, adapt or modify as needed, without economic barriers or copyright restrictions. This paper reviews key literature on OER and ROER, in order to understand the roles ROER are said or supposed to fulfil in relation to furthering the aims of the OER movement. Four themes which should shape repository design are identified, and the following 10 quality indicators (QI) for ROER effectiveness are discussed: featured resources; user evaluation tools; peer review; authorship of the resources; keywords of the resources; use of standardised metadata; multilingualism of the repositories; inclusion of social media tools; specification of the creative commons license; availability of the source code or original files. These QI form the basis of a method for the evaluation of ROER initiatives which, in concert with considerations of achievability and long-term sustainability, should assist in enhancement and development. Keywords: open educational resources; open access; open educational practice; repositories; quality assurance "