The Comprehensive Evaluation of Professional Development Software: A Critique of Methodology

Abstract

Training for pre-service and in-service teachers that is delivered through distance education methods solves various problems of traditional professional development. These problems include issues such as providing a consistent message, training large numbers of personnel, and overcoming scheduling and funding problems. As with other forms of instruction, professional development training materials should be subjected to a level of evaluation that increases the likelihood of successful implementation. However, it is unclear how this need for evaluation of professional development software is being met. Commercial software companies have been found to eschew evaluation of their products and classroom teachers can be expected to conduct only limited software evaluations of the software. This article contends that educational researchers are well positioned to conduct comprehensive evaluations of the professional development software they create. This purpose of this review of the literature is to (a) consolidate the database of literature with regard to professional development software, (b) examine the degree to which the software described in the literature has been comprehensively evaluated, and (c) provide suggestions for future research.

Effects of a Computerized Professional Development Program on Teacher and Student Outcomes

“…Computerized professional development pro grams, like the VW however, remove these access barriers. Through computerized professional development programs, teachers could easily access, on their own schedules, effec tive professional development produced by leading experts in the field (Liaupsin, 2003). Moreover, professional devel opment could be provided to teachers at less cost than face toface approaches (Abbott et al, 2006).…”

“…That is, it must improve teacher classroom prac tice and, by extension, improve student outcomes (Gersten & Dimino, 2001;SnowRenner & Lauer, 2005). Unfortu nately, little is known about the effectiveness of computer ized professional development programs (i.e., both online programs and multimedia software programs) in relation to the imp rovement of teacher classroom practice (Dede, Ketelhut, Whitehouse, Breit, & McCloskey, 2009;Ginsburg et al, 2004;Harlen & Doubler, 2007;Laferriere et al, 2006;Liaupsin, 2003).…”

Usability Testing of the ClassWide Peer Tutoring-Learning Management System

“…However, rarely are these interventions rigorously evaluated in terms of how easily teachers and/or administrators can use them. Evaluating usability is the first step in a process to improve an intervention's usability and, thus, increase the probability it will be used in schools.Most researchers recognize the importance of conducting rigorous formative evaluations of interventions' instructional effectiveness using objective outcome measures (Liaupsin, 2003). However, usability evaluations rarely go beyond satisfaction surveys.…”

“…Most researchers recognize the importance of conducting rigorous formative evaluations of interventions' instructional effectiveness using objective outcome measures (Liaupsin, 2003). However, usability evaluations rarely go beyond satisfaction surveys.…”