Experiences in cyberspace: Preparation, practice, and performance of graduates from a web-based teacher training program

The tremendous teacher shortage in California has revealed the need for over 300,000 teachers in public schools over the next decade. The shortage is greatest in urban areas. Due to this shortage, there has been an increase in alternative teacher certification efforts and strategies to fill this need. Web-based teacher certification was implemented by the California State University in 1999 as a direct response to help ease the teacher certification crisis. To date, there has been no research that documents the experiences of graduates a of a complete web-based teacher preparation program.; In this qualitative research study, 25 teacher graduates from a web-based training program and 9 principals with experience in supervision of web-based graduates were interviewed. The California Standards of the Teaching Profession which were adopted in 1997 were used as a key guide to gauge the experiences and success of teachers who participated in this study. The purpose of these interviews were to ascertain the experiences and perceptions of web-based trained teachers in preparation, practice, and performance of teaching. Additionally, this study examines teacher use and integration of technology into the classroom.; The results showed that the teachers chose an alternative web-based program because of the highly flexible nature of instruction it provides, it satisfied their personal needs, and accommodated their busy lives and schedules with more convenience than a traditional program. A majority of the graduates found the quality of instruction and the support and guidance they received was very satisfactory. They also felt well-prepared to teach in an urban school. The findings suggest that these teachers overwhelmingly believe that technology does enhance student learning and makes classroom instruction more flexible, time-efficient, and creative. The findings also suggest that these web-based trained teacher graduates are quite knowledgeable and committed to California teaching standards, flexible in nature, open to improvement, and are meeting their students many needs.