Education Week, E-Learning 2010: E-Educators Evolving (Education Week, September 2010).
This interactive report from Education Week, the second in a three-part series, offers a collection of articles that address key e-learning issues such as educator standards, training, preparedness, and compensation—and offers interesting background for those new to the e-learning circuit. One article focuses on the development of voluntary standards for e-educators (courtesy of groups like the International Association for K-12 Online Learning)—as states reveal significant disparities in the standards that govern online learning. Another tackles teacher quality: Some experts question the value of saddling online educators with additional entry requirements, while others fight for increased professional development and teacher training. What passes for professional development in this realm is highly variable; even still most teachers get no ed school training in the online classroom. There is no consensus when it comes to how e-educators are trained or held accountable. This is a hot-topic report with a somewhat sobering message for those riding high on the possibilities of online learning: nothing is yet for sure and there’s still a long way to go.
