Discover how Lesson Study benefits both students and teachers. Unlike scripted curricula that strip teachers of professional decisionmaking, Lesson Study values teachers by expecting them to be agents of improvement in their own classrooms. This resource empowers readers to oppose reform efforts that minimize teacher agency by offering an…

Teachers already know that students need the skills necessary to think critically, work with others and express ideas, but often wonder how they can ensure a painless, successful professional development experience that puts the learner at the center and models best practices? They also ask how the outcomes of these fruitful professional learning…

Traditional professional development related to teaching is offered on a short-term basis and at the individual level. Recent experiences and research studies have led to an organizational level model in which the educational developer forms a sustained partnership with administrators, faculty, staff, and students in a department, offering…

The author describes the early relationship between the Meriden Public schools' local teacher union and the Meriden Federation of Teachers (MFT) as "frosty with a lack of trust." However, in the last five years, she states, the union and the district have built a strong labor-management partnership whose focus on supporting teachers has…

This article presents a humanistic dialogue between the authors that focuses on mapping place and identity in academic development. The authors chose this format in order to capture some of the important work that conversation among intellectual peers can do--work that forms the basis of much learning at conferences and in the corridors and…

Academic developers are often positioned as intermediaries who wield value-neutral tools--languages, models, and techniques--in service of decidedly non-neutral institutional goals. We challenge the value of perpetuating the ideal of the neutrality of academic developers and their tools by examining the ways in which our resources and approaches…

With the retirement of baby boomers (born 1946-1964) looming, considerable discussion and research has been conducted into succession planning and the educational impact from the loss of these leadership skills and experiences in community colleges. To prepare for this eventuality, many community colleges have begun Grow-Your-Own (GYO) leadership…

Two approaches to professional learning communities, the inquiry-oriented and the results-oriented approaches, both have weaknesses. Neither adequately addresses the overall coherence of a school's efforts to improve teaching and learning. A third model, the Common Priorities approach, combines the strengths of the other two approaches and…

Student demand for online education requires colleges and universities to rapidly expand the number of courses and programs offered online while maintaining high quality. This paper outlines two universities respective processes to assure quality in large-scale online programs that integrate instructional design, eBook custom publishing, Quality…

Experienced e-learning faculty members share strategies for implementing a comprehensive postsecondary faculty development program essential to continuous improvement of instructional skills. The high-impact META Model (centered around Mentoring, Engagement, Technology, and Assessment) promotes information sharing and content creation, and fosters…

In May 2009, the US Department of Education released a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies of online, face-to-face, and blended learning models. The analysis found that online learning produced better student outcomes than face-to-face classes, and that blended learning offered an even "larger advantage" over face-to-face. The hybrid approach…

There are many challenges facing those educators who strive to ensure that their pre-service teachers understand the issues surrounding equity and social justice. In response to these challenges, and in response to the interests, questions, and concerns of the faculty in a School of Education, two professors worked collaboratively with…

The demands on academic staff in all sectors to adopt best ODL practices to create effective and efficient models of learning in the face of increasing external pressures show no signs of abating. The massification of higher education, diversified access, and pressures to meet institutional visions and research objectives demand of teaching staff…

Some teaching centers flounder while others flourish. This paper provides concrete suggestions for launching or revitalizing a teaching center, drawn from the experiences of these authors and from principles in the literature. Two center directors worked to apply the principles in the literature to their newly launched or revitalized centers. One…

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University--Worldwide serves more than 36,000 online students across the globe, many of whom are military and other non-traditional students, offering 34 undergraduate, graduate, and professional education/workforce certificate programs, presented both online and via blended delivery modes. The centralized model of online…