Alabama Department of Education and ETLO
Build State Capacity for Blended and Online Learning
The most important thing is to work with others
in the state to meet the needs of the schools,
LEAs, and students. Developing partnerships
and getting everyone involved are the keys to
being effective. We have full school districts
who have bought into blended learning and we
are working with them in professional learning
groups to experience blended learning first
hand.”
-- Cheri Hayes, Alabama Department of
Education
Many years ago, the Alabama Department of Education
recognized the critical need to provide more access and
opportunities to students throughout the state. With many
extremely rural communities and districts and, like many
states in the country, a need to increase the graduation
rate, Alabama explored ways to meet the needs of all
students. Alabama began to understand the potential of
online learning to expand course offerings to more rural
schools that may not have the teachers or number of
students to offer specialized or advanced courses and also
provide a means for students who may be struggling to participate in credit recovery courses or
experience different instructional strategies through an online or blended course.
While Alabama has developed a compendium of options to meet the needs of students through blended
and online learning, a few key programs have dramatically expanded the capacity of the state and districts
through professional learning opportunities to develop and sustain the courses and options for students.
ACCESS Expanding Opportunities for Students through Blended and Online Courses
ACCESS ensures that every high school in the state has a 21st Century classroom from which students
participate in online courses taught by Alabama certified teachers. The number of students participating
in the online courses has increased exponentially
since the inception in 2004 to 18,640 students.
The ACCESS program increased the demand for
“The train-the-trainer model that ETLO helped us
educators who have the skills to teach online.
implement is essential to build capacity. The ETLO
team makes sure that we have the knowledge and
Alabama eLearning
tools we need to build capacity and to implement
Recognizing the importance of training
the professional development well.”
educators before they teach online and the value
-- Cheri Hayes, Alabama Department of Education
of making professional development more
flexible and accessible, Alabama partnered with
the eLearning for Educators program through a
federally-funded Ready to Teach with EDC’s Ed Tech Leaders Online (ETLO) program and created
Alabama eLearning. Through eLearning for Educators, ETLO worked with ten states across the country
to partner with public television stations and the State Education Agencies, i.e. the Alabama Department
of Education, to build capacity for teaching online and developing online courses.
eLearning for Educators provided the opportunity to train educators throughout the state as online
facilitators to create a more far-reaching program and effect. As facilitators were trained and educators
learned how to develop courses, Alabama was able to provide more professional development to more
educators. Alabama eLearning has 3,000 educators or principals taking courses each semester and offers
three semesters per year. Fall of 2012 marks the 19th semester for Alabama eLearning; and in the summer
of 2012, Alabama eLearning offered 108 sections of 53 different courses.
Approximately 120 trained facilitators lead courses in an ongoing way, and forty-eight educators are
trained in course development. Facilitators must have taken the online course, must be certified in the
area facilitating, and are screened to ensure that they have the capacity to teach an online course.
Alabama has also expanded its impact by working across programs in the Department of Education and
the state. Alabama has partnered with major, state-wide initiatives, including the Career Counselors and
Reading programs. Every facilitator who teaches an online course must take the ETLO “How to Be an
Online Course Facilitator” course to ensure that they have the skills, knowledge, and tools to understand
how to teach in an online environment. The facilitators are also required to design courses after
participating in the course development workshop. Courses are reviewed by a team of experts, and the
team of experts also reviews facilitators and constantly monitors progress.
Alabama eLearning also incorporates and guides groups through the online, ETLO-adapted Intel
Elements courses. The previous face-to-face courses required forty hours in person, which either took
educators away from their students or required teachers to participate outside of the school year. The
Education Leadership in the 21st Century course is offered as a blended professional learning group and is
approved for administrators to use as
recertification credit. Alabama eLearning now
“Basically, 75% of the courses we run are ones that
offers Elements courses that are shorter and
we have developed. The EDC courses are
more focused, including Project Based
invaluable for providing course work in areas that
Learning, School Leaders of the 21st Century,
we have not yet developed.”
and Assessments.
-- Tom Dreilinger, Alabama eLearning
To ensure that Alabama has the courses needed
for educators, eLearning Alabama develops and
offers many of its own courses, but also leases courses from ETLO to fill in the gaps. This combination
of courses allows Alabama to meet the needs of teachers whether through Alabama, ETLO, or ETLO
Intel courses.
Alabama finds many educators looking for an opportunity to teach online. Many high school teachers
have opportunity to facilitate through ACCESS, but middle and elementary school teachers do not
typically have readily accessible chances. Alabama has recently expanded its offerings to incorporate
more blended learning strategies, as many educators want to learn these skills to put into practice in
classrooms.
Blended Learning
Alabama launched a blended learning course in the Spring of 2012, taught by EDC, and in the Summer of
2012, facilitated by an Alabama educator, on blended learning with thirty-four graduates. The blended
learning course specifically identifies tools that teachers can use with their students in the traditional or
online learning environment. The
courses are focused on content, but
educators are introduced to
“Last summer, I facilitated the Blended Learning course to a group
technology as an important tool for
of e-Learning instructors who were comfortable with online learning
instruction. The course ideally
and the technical aspects of using Moodle. They were quick to
allows for educators to try new
understand the difference between just adding some online
strategies with their students, and
enrichment to a course (a path many teachers take) and truly
reflect on and discuss their
integrating online activities, projects, and knowledge into the whole
experiences with their colleagues.
fabric of a face-to-face class. This is an important difference to
Although the blended learning
improve teaching skills and student engagement in learning. I have
course is a new addition, many
no doubt that these teachers will re-think their courses and include
educators share that they have made
this Blended Learning theory.”
changes to their instructional
-- Jillian Landi, Alabama e-Learning Instructor
practice as a result of the experience.
Although Alabama has significant
and growing participation in the online courses, the state does not target teachers specifically for training.
Instead, Alabama opens up the opportunities to sign up for courses based upon the educators’ interests
and needs.
Technology in Motion
Technology in Motion is a personalized approach to creating professional learning opportunities for and
with LEAs. The Technology in Motion Specialists, who are regional leaders that work closely with LEAs
in one of eleven state regions, work with districts to determine the needs of the schools and/or district.
Each of the eleven Technology in Motion Specialists has taken the ETLO Blended Learning Course, and
they are also trained as online course facilitators and developers. The Technology in Motion specialists
develop blended learning courses to address the needs of LEAs and their educators.
For example, one Technology in Motion specialists shares his personalized approach to professional
learning with LEAs in his region.
“Blended instruction is the focus of the on-going training I am doing with Jasper City Schools. In
fact, the initiative has been named Blended Learning in Progress (BLIP) to reflect the
sustained commitment to provide classroom teachers with the tools and strategies they will need to
promote project-based instruction, higher-order thinking, and 21st century skills. We are in phase
one of the initiative where I have trained teams of lead teachers at each of their schools and I
continue to support them as they move forward with the training of all their teachers. The
Superintendent, Dr. Sparkman, has received permission for four early release days in which lead
teachers are working with the faculty to implement the Intel Thinking Tools into the curriculum.”
-- Barry Wiginton, Region 1: University of North Alabama
A Statewide Network of Professional Learning Opportunities
Alabama, with the support of ETLO, has developed an extensive network of professional learning
opportunities that includes a depth of offerings and agile approach to meet the needs of educators
throughout Alabama. Even in the few years since the inception of Alabama eLearning, the program has
grown dramatically in participants. The design and constant revisiting and understanding of the needs of
districts, schools, administrators, and educators has allowed the Alabama eLearning to adapt their model
and also their content to ensure that educators have the tools, resources, and instructional strategies they
need to be prepared for college and career.