Designing a Plan for Systematic Maintenance of Online PD Courses: The Evolution of the eLearning for Educators Alabama Virtual Update Team
Abstract: ELearning for Educators Alabama is an online professional development program that provides accessible, high-quality professional development to teachers in Alabama as well as throughout the ten-state eLearning for Educators consortium. Based on the learning community model of online professional development designed by EdTech Leaders Online (ETLO) of the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), eLearning for Educators Alabama incorporates extensive web-base content, rich in multimedia resources, in its courses. Due to the fluid nature of the Internet, this web-based content may change often, requiring frequent course modifications to stay current and accurate. Other more extensive course modifications are necessary periodically to ensure currency and relevancy in pedagogy and content. This paper describes the design process of a systematic course maintenance plan for the eLearning for Educators Alabama program and includes the development of the virtual team organization, an update philosophy, a full course update process, and a routine maintenance procedure.