The Search for a Professional Development Model Goes On

The Professional Development page at the Technology Applications Center for Educator Development (TACED) [http://www.tcet.unt.edu/START/profdev/models.htm] leaves a great deal to be desired in terms of being a user friendly and usable site. The site itself is a single page of nearly all text with a small two colored banner at the top of the page. At first look the page appears to be a typed listing of articles followed by a brief description of the information to be found at each site listed. The information on the page is divided into three main groups each delineated by a heading that identified the focus of the links provided below them. Near the bottom of the page is a banner containing 7 icons that serve as links to other parts of the website or as external links.

Unfortunately the entire site is extremely sterile in its appearance. The entries on the site are in list format with the name of the site listed followed by a short synopsis of the information to be found on the site. Once more of the 14 sites listed on the page 12 are broken links and another 2 are password protected. This fact alone places severe limits upon the usefulness of the site for any real research. The links at the bottom of the page are little better. One site contains a disclaimer that it is no longer maintained by the Texas Center for Educational Technology and does not appear to have been updated since 2001. The other links are to sites that are as plain as the original site. All of these links are part of the University of North Texas TACED site. This site might contain excellent information but the appearance of the site and the fact that some of the links are broken would lead me to believe that this site would not be a good source of reliable information on the topic of Professional Development.