Several years ago, I led a small experiment. I wanted to explore the possibility of using a different model of teaching writing. Fully aware that I lacked the expertise to lead the training myself, we adopted a different model of CPD. At very little cost, we signed up, as a group, for Moocs (massive online open courses). 

The course was designed for teachers in the US, so our focus was to work together through the programme and consider how the learning could be adapted to suit our classrooms in the UK. Each week, we met and shared our experiences, engaged with the online materials and planned what to do next. As a model of CPD, it was a refreshing change for all involved - and the subsequent improvement in pupils’ writing outcomes was impressive.

While Moocs are available in the UK, other countries have arguably been more active in developing this form of professional learning for the education sector. 

• How to ensure effective CPD in schools
• Why we use action-research as CPD
• How ‘open classrooms’ can enhance CPD

For example, the Chinese Ministry of Education supported the development of Moocs to provide a scalable and cost-effective approach to teacher education. And in Spain, teachers can learn about early reading through a year-long online programme called Letra. The programme, designed by experts and researchers at the University of La Laguna in the Canary Islands, includes videos, resources, a course handbook, activities to complete, assessments and additional reading. Participants enrol in the course independently and work through the materials at their own pace. The impact of Letra has been evaluated; the research showed that the programme was effective at developing teacher knowledge and changing their beliefs about the teaching of early reading.

Here in the UK, teachers can access Moocs through organisations such as Coursera, FutureLearn, Teachable, OpenLearn, Khan Academy, Stanford Online and other providers - though they usually have to pay a fee.

Benefits of Moocs

The opportunities that these types of courses provide are immense - not least because they give us access to experts and allow us to bring their voices into our schools. Leading an area like literacy or English is a huge responsibility, requiring immense and varied skills and knowledge. Having access to high-quality online learning materials, such as Moocs, means that we can draw on the knowledge and expertise of others in an immediately accessible way. 

There will always be a place for face-to-face training, but this is not the only way that learning on the job happens. Teachers also learn through solving problems, working alongside others and using shared materials to develop their professional knowledge and skills.

Perhaps the formality of traditional professional learning models is becoming less suited to the ways we work now. We are already used to being able to access the whole world at our fingertips, so why not extend this reality to how we approach CPD?

It’s time for teachers to become networked learners - the possibilities are endless. 

Megan Dixon is a doctoral student and associate lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University