Improving Staff Development in Rural Communities Using Distance Education and Communication Technology

Abstract

There are many challenges to universities and school corporations in offering quality staff development to teachers in rural communities. This article describes an innovative approach to staff development that uses distance education and computer-based audiographic communications technology. This approach enables rural schools to over come many of the challenges to staff development because it gives them the ability to link with outside experts, to share in the ownership of the training, to devise experiences that improve the on-the-job performance of the staff, and to increase overall collaboration among personnel.