A Blueprint for Using the Online Teaching Motivation Scale to Make Responsive Professional Development Decisions

Integration of online teaching and learning is now standard practice in many K-12 schools; therefore, it is essential that our school and district leaders make informed decisions about what professional development is provided to support educators who are teaching and facilitating learning in online spaces. We believe that online teaching and learning encompasses any use of online technology by teachers or students for learning (e.g., SmartBoards, lab simulations, Nearpod, EdPuzzle, virtual classes, etc.). This session will provide school and district leaders with a blueprint for using the Online Teaching Motivation Scale (OTMS) to evaluate teachers’ self-efficacy for online teaching and inform their decisions related to the creation of targeted professional development. 

This session will walk through the process of disseminating the OTMS and interpreting the resulting data. The presentation will also include time to review guiding questions that help determine when a whole-school, small group, or individual professional development or coaching will be most effective. Additionally, strategies for supporting differentiated professional development at participants’ schools or districts will be shared. Participants will leave with a tool for data collection and a plan for how to make responsive decisions about professional development and support for online teaching and learning in their schools and districts. 

There will be a backchannel chat running during the session for participants to respond to the presentation, share their ideas for implementing the strategies and tools in their schools, as well as discuss any barriers they predict encountering. We will highlight some conversations and allow time for feedback from both attendees and presenters.