It's an alternative to conventional staff development that is less costly, easier to schedule, and potentially more effective. Online course participants read the lesson, try the ideas in class, debrief on the bulletin board, and get feedback from the instructor and other participants. There are many online training models. The participants are given a password at the onset of the course in order to access the class web site. This site is available at any time from any computer linked to the Internet.
Participants learn practical strategies they can implement immediately.
In some ways, online courses mirror traditional classroom courses. They include goals and objectives, a syllabus, a bibliography, course readings, and homework assignments. Unlike a typical college course, however, the teacher is not in front of the room lecturing to participants. The course content is divided into four weekly modules. The mini-lecture is embedded with contextual clues in the form of graphics, pictures, examples, vignettes, anecdotes, and vivid descriptions.