A Click Away: A Q&A With Chip Donohue About the Benefits of Online Distance Learning for In-Service Teachers

What do you see as the main benefits of in-service distance learning for early childhood educators? Why should early childhood educators position themselves as teachers and as e-learners?

I think the benefits of distance learning begin with its convenience. Working professionals in early childhood education can’t get away from the program, from the center, from the classroom, and so forth, to attend courses or professional development (PD) events at typical times, so distance learning opens up a new avenue for them to access information. I think the other benefit is that, when it’s done well, distance learning gives providers opportunities to connect to a community of other learners. 

Tell me more about the idea of a community of learners.

In online PD, we don’t tend to think as much about community as when people connect in person. Online we’re more likely to think about each learner as being engaged in an isolated, individual-focused module in which the person pays a small fee, logs in, works on a module by him- or herself, perhaps gives some feedback to someone on the other end, receives feedback, completes the module, and then moves on. There is an absence of community in that type of learning situation, and this absence unfortunately doesn’t always serve our field well. With early childhood education, we’re talking about professionals who work with young children and families—their field is all about relationships. In the absence of a community of learners where relationships can be cultivated, I worry about the quality of the learning experience. If we’re really going to serve the field well, we need to think about how we can create a sense of community in online courses and facilitate interactions so that people feel like they are part of something that is bigger than themselves. 

 
And what’s the added value of being a part of a community of learners?

I think that, at times, there’s value in just going online on your own to learn about topics of personal and professional interest. So there is usefulness merely in that kind of individually focused “just-in-time”/training-when-it’s-needed approach. But of particular significance is what I am also seeing through my own experiences, which is that, as students start to feel comfortable participating in online discussions and speaking up and saying what they think to a group of other e-learners, they begin to feel more confident engaging in in-person professional learning communities as well. They therefore start speaking up in meetings in the workplace and sharing their stories and knowledge with more and more people. That sense of having a voice is so transformative. Also, the feeling of not being entirely alone in the work you do is really powerful. Think about family child care providers who run a multi-age child care business out of their home, and imagine the many issues they have to deal with in running such a business. The ability to connect with other providers and classroom practitioners online after-hours is really powerful. It gives family child care providers a sense of community that they often say they don’t feel. If I’m a classroom teacher, I have colleagues in other classrooms, and maybe I have someone who works with me in my classroom. I’m not alone. I’m not isolated. But family child care providers can certainly feel a real sense of professional isolation. The notion that they are only a click away from a conversation with someone who understands the work they do and values them is a pretty big deal and can give them an important feeling of support both professionally and personally. 

What can course developers and course instructors do to help create that sense of community among e-learners?

When the connection to others is intentional and done well, it’s really powerful, really remarkable, and quite unexpected for many students who engage in an online course for the first time. Creating a sense of community starts with intent. If you want community, you have to intend to have one; it has to be there from the beginning. It’s both an instructional and a design issue. Helping develop a community can, for example, involve setting up an icebreaker activity online, encouraging e-learners to share personal stories or photos of themselves, or initiating and supporting a threaded discussion. Establishing a community also frequently requires a mindset shift among instructors, who need to move from being a “sage on the stage” lecturer to being a facilitator who can guide a discussion and encourage participation from everyone. It also takes sharing resources and ideas with other online instructors and being comfortable saying to them, “This is what I tried; it didn’t work. What other ideas do you have for me to consider?” Online instructors need a community as much as e-learners do. 

 
What are the most popular online PD courses?

They tend to be similar to those that we’re seeing in PD trainings in general, such as how to work with parents and families, resolve classroom management issues, and work with challenging behaviors. The topics that we regularly see in person generally determine where we’re going to see the action online because PD providers start with what they know they have the most demand for. We’re creating new methods of delivery for what is, in many ways, the same content. 

Given our interest in family engagement here at HFRP, tell us how family engagement has been included in existing online education opportunities for early childhood professionals and what added benefit the online platform might provide to learning about this topic.

Family engagement is certainly a critical piece in many courses for early childhood educators. The advantage of a technology-based platform for this topic is that it allows you to get involved with some really interesting activities. In our online courses at Erikson Institute, our faculty use a variety of distance learning methods to include family engagement topics and issues. They bring the voices of parents and families into the course in ways that aren’t easily brought to the community college on a Thursday night or onto the college campus on a Tuesday afternoon. For example, they include video and audio clips of parents and educators talking about the benefits and challenges of family engagement. Faculty also interview thought leaders and experts in the fields of family engagement and of early childhood development around the country and include audio bits or video pieces of the interviews as part of their class discussions. Online faculty and PD providers can bring the best examples from the world of early childhood care and education right to the fingertips and eyes of their adult learners, and virtually send them to see examples of programs with strong family engagement components. It’s about being a connected educator and making the most of what we can access and deliver through these platforms.

To learn more about Chip’s distance learning work, please see the following resources:

Dolan, S., Donohue, C., Holstrom, L., Pernell, L., & Sachdev, A. (2009). Supporting online learners: Blending high tech with high touch. Exchange, 190, 90–97.

Donohue, C., & Fox, S. (2012). Technology for teacher education and professional development: Lessons learned and innovative practices. Exchange, 204, 74–82.

Donohue, C., Fox, S., & Torrence, D. (2007). Early childhood educators as eLearners: Engaging approaches to teaching and learning online. Young Children, 62(4), 34–40.

This resource is part of the December 2013 FINE Newsletter. The FINE Newsletter shares the newest and best family engagement research and resources from Harvard Family Research Project and other field leaders. To access the archives of past issues, please visit www.hfrp.org/FINENewsletter.