| This dissertation presents a study of a two-year distance master's degree program delivered through online web technologies by Department of Art Education at The Ohio State University. The participants were fifteen full-time art teachers and four university art educators. Their virtual interactions were studied, analyzed, and interpreted for their educational significance in online professional development.; Online distance education literature and research has seen a development from the earlier phase of anecdotal accounts, prescriptions, and rather scattered research efforts in the early 90s. Since then it has flourished and grown rapidly to become elaborated and sophisticated in theories and applications. It has re-conceptualized how to go about education that reflects and takes advantage of the uniqueness of the virtual classroom. Within this broader context of online education research, this study situated itself specifically in the overarching sub-domains of online professional development, virtual learning communities, and the new paradigm of online teaching and learning. Each of these sub-domains has its own sub branches of research topics, and I focused on only a few issues in each domain which were relevant to our program purposes and goals.; The web technologies were able to expand the reach of in-service art teacher education to off-campus audience. As a result, the department was able to bring diverse backgrounds of practicing teachers together to engage in a prolonged professional development effort. The fifteen online students' learning and interaction posted in the online classroom, both as individuals and as a community of learners, was my primary source of study. I have documented and explored the program results from these three major issues: (1) development of an online learning community, (2) development of students' reflective learning, and (3) applications of web technologies in the online classroom. Each was discussed in a separate chapter.; Through an ethnographic approach with participant observation, I have identified and demonstrated different feasible educational opportunities of online professional development. First of all, the students were able to connect and construct interrelationship between theory and their daily practice to a deeper level. The online classroom had made it accessible and relevant for them to undertake such learning. Secondly, they were able to engage in sustained reflective learning process as a result of the online participation and community involvement. Third, they were given the opportunities to become familiar with current online technologies and enhance their learning. However, teaching and learning in the online classroom posted some tensions and challenges due to the changing roles of students and instructors in such educational platform. These issues were discussed. Moreover, the online learning tools used to facilitate communication and interactivity were not without limitations. As a result, future efforts and improvements on advancing online teaching and learning are needed to overcome technically-associated difficulties. Practical issues regarding use of web technologies in the online classroom and recommendations for implementation were discussed. Finally, implications regarding art teacher's online professional development were discussed. |
