FOR-PD Update

March 2003

The FOR-PD Project continues to grow:

Latest FOR-PD Numbers

2648 students
71 sections
4 facilitator sections
27 participating districts
4 participating universities

FOR-PD Celebrates First Graduates!

Mary Leonard, FOR-PD facilitator from Charlotte County, wrote to tell us that she recently sent out the following good news on her district's electronic bulletin board:

"I am extremely excited to announce that Jane Adams, Title I teacher at Sallie Jones Elementary School, is the first of Charlotte County's participants in the FOR-PD (Florida On-line Reading Professional Development) program to complete all course requirements! Charlotte County presently has 72 teachers enrolled in the class. These brave souls are part of the inaugural group of teachers statewide who are participating in this first-ever offering of FOR-PD. The course was recently featured in the February 16, 2003 edition of the Orlando Sentinel. Congratulations, Jane, for being one of the first educators in the state to complete this innovative new course! Great job!"

FOR-PD Hosts Online Chat

Recently we conducted an online chat with some of our first FOR-PD graduates and facilitators. Online with us were participants and facilitators from as far as Key West in Monroe county and as close as Seminole county. Dr. Vicky Zygouris-Coe, Co-PI and our Reading expert joined in as well and Dr. Donna Baumbach, Co-PI, even joined us from her sabbatical in North Carolina! Below is an excerpt from the chat:

Donna Baumbach: We'd like to get your impressions of the course--being the first through it!

Heather: I really enjoyed the format of the course. It was great to be able to work at my own pace.

Donna Baumbach: Thanks, Heather.

Vicky Zygouris-Coe: You are the first "survivors!" We’re eager to hear from you.

Heather: I thought the lessons contained a lot of useful information, well organized, and meaningful.

Sharon: I really liked the course and the resources were incredible.

Vicky Zygouris-Coe: Heather, what exactly was your pace? Did you develop a plan of your own?

Heather: I liked that there were opportunities within some lessons for different grade levels and school staff.

Heather: My kindergarten son was my '"homework buddy" and I did about a lesson every day or two.

FOR-PD Staff: Was this your first online class for any of you?

Sharon: My first.

Heather: My second.

Heather: But I liked this course much better. I think it (the other course) was through Connected University.

FOR-PD Staff: Great! Sharon, what do you think of the online format? Easy enough for you to navigate or could we make some improvements?

Vicky Zygouris-Coe: Was this a "heavy" course? In terms of content and activities?

Heather: I felt the course was very easy to navigate. It wasn't too heavy. For a classroom teacher there were a lot of things they were probably already doing or wanted to make the time to do anyway.

Sharon: And after the first 2 lessons my confidence became stronger.

Thanks to everyone who joined us on our first FOR-PD Chat! We’re planning another chat soon, so stay tuned!

Course Evaluations Show FOR-PD Makes a Difference

To date, we’ve had 48 FOR-PD participants complete the course evaluation. As you can see by the results below, graduates of the course so far are overwhelmingly reporting that the FOR-PD course is making a difference in their classroom instruction and that they would take another online course based upon their experience with FOR-PD!

Question 14:

As a result of this course, have you made any changes/additions to your classroom reading instruction?

Yes

*Question 27:* *Now that you have completed this course, which item below best reflects your attitude toward taking another online course?*
Very favorable. I would take another course like this one if it were offered.	30
Favorable. I probably would take another online course.	12
Not sure. Whether I would take another online course would depend on the topic.	5
Moderately unfavorable. I probably wouldn't take another online course.	0
Unfavorable. I would not take another online course.	1

Notable Quotable

Cyndy Simons, from Instructional Technology in Sarasota County, writes:

"I can tell you at this point that our enrollment requests are phenomenal! We have over 100 in just two days of our online registration. The course is not only 'charming', but absolutely filled with wonderfully organized content and activities...I am very much looking forward to working with our new facilitators and this wonderful course."

Cyndy also shared with us her plans for an orientation to the FOR-PD course for Sarasota participants:

“I meet with the folks in our labs and first discuss what it takes to be successful in an online course, then go through a hands-on session to show them how to navigate within the course, use the e-mail system, the forum discussions and the assignment drop box. Since we have so many for this one, I will only be able to do a demonstration, but I know it will still help them get started. Lynn Urban, who is our professional development contact for FOR-PD, will videotape the session so that folks who cannot make it can check out a tape. I am also going to post my ‘Orientation to Online Professional Development’ PowerPoint on my website.“

Thank you Cyndy for your support of FOR-PD in Sarasota!

Do you have comments you'd like to share with us about the FOR-PD project or course? Please send them to us at forpd@mail.ucf.edu