Online Instruction for the Professional Development of Educators: Distributed Community Model for Learning About Teaching

Continuing professional development for teaching is important for institutional renewal, for teacher development and for improving student learning. However, it can be difficult to engage educators in professional development. We suggest that there are three necessary conditions for achieving academic engagement and that these conditions can be realized through a distributed professional development model. However, if a distributed professional development model is to be successful, attention must be paid to factors that facilitate adaptation to and participation in distributed professional learning. These factors are analyzed and explained.