Professional development has come along way in that past several years and now school districts are taking things a step further by creating online and hybrid professional development programs. There are now a number of different programs that are being implemented by schools all over the country and they have been quite successful so far. Besides, if technology is being used more and more by students, it only makes sense that educators are given the same opportunity with their education.
Online professional development programs save schools money by not having to hire substitute teachers or paying for traveling or material expenses; however, teachers are welcoming these online programs because they allow them to take their courses at times that are easiest for them, and allowing them to take away more information because they are in the right mind-set to learn the material. This means that teachers are able to turn right around and incorporate the material into their lesson plans the next day.
Colleges for education are also jumping on the bandwagon and creating a number of online or hybrid professional development courses for educators. They saw a growing demand and agreed that non-degree programs online would make more sense than conducting the courses person, partly because of the very nature of how colleges of education are now being structured.
"We're an academic program. We're not designed for customized [face-to-face] workshops in any way," said Lisa Dawley, a professor of educational technology at Boise State University, in Idaho.
Dawley and her teammates recently began an online professional development program in August. The online program is designed to provide K-12 educators and administrators access to three-week instructor-led online workshops that cover courses such as merging technology into the classroom. Dawley said that the program will also be expanded to provide teachers workshops dealing with common-core standards for the state of Idaho.
Arizona State University has also created their own version of online professional development for teachers. In 2006, the university joined forces with the state department of education and produced the IDEAL program, which stands for Integrated Data to Enhance Arizona Learning. The program offers online courses to develop teachers' instructional skills in areas such as language arts, math, science, technology integration, classroom management, and English as a second language. Courses are usually over a span of six to eight weeks and cost around $65.
"We've known for a long time that the best professional development is job-embedded and sustainable within [instructors'] own time, and able to be accessed by individuals as well," said Rick Baker, the associate director of IDEAL.
Aside from local colleges of education, school districts are hosting their own version of online professional development. Mark Hess, the executive director of instruction, technology, and assessment for the Walled Lake district in Michigan is turning to the online world to enhance professional development experiences for his educators through hybrid programs. His program includes the formation of a video library that shows expert teachers demonstrating a number of different teaching techniques. The video library will be paired with the district's traditional week-long face-to-face workshop next year. Hess's hope is that teachers will walk into the traditional workshop with more knowledge because of the videos and the workshop will be used for more discussion and interaction then instruction.
Another online professional development program that is making waves is Channel One, which has recently partnered with Promethean Inc. These two companies have created a program that will be piloted this month in Ashland Elementary School in Prince William County, Va. Each classroom in the school will be given an interactive whiteboard, provided by Promethean, which will air daily broadcasts and give students various lessons and quizzes, while Promethean will give teachers short daily tutorials on using various whiteboard tools and improving teaching methods with the interactive whiteboard.
The Channel One program will provide teachers a list of options for professional development that will highlight a "skill of the day," such as incorporating various online tools such as Google Docs into lessons or creating digital assessments. All the tutorials will be kept online so that an educator can take a look back and review the material.
"So many teachers come back from a traditional professional-development session, and they remember only a very small portion, only what they were ready to get and grasp," Shannon Kula, an education solutions manager for Promethean, said. "This delivers it in bite-sized chunks, and it's customizable."
So with the ever-growing demand for online professional development, it looks like we will be seeing more companies like Channel One offer programs for schools. Hopefully, this new way of professional develop will give teachers the flexibility they are looking for and give them resources to improve their techniques in the classroom.
360 Education Solutions is your advocate in the search for quality online teaching degree programs. As an advocate group founded specifically for educators, we provide you with the support and information needed to help you achieve your teaching certification and educational aspirations.
Online professional development programs save schools money by not having to hire substitute teachers or paying for traveling or material expenses; however, teachers are welcoming these online programs because they allow them to take their courses at times that are easiest for them, and allowing them to take away more information because they are in the right mind-set to learn the material. This means that teachers are able to turn right around and incorporate the material into their lesson plans the next day.
Colleges for education are also jumping on the bandwagon and creating a number of online or hybrid professional development courses for educators. They saw a growing demand and agreed that non-degree programs online would make more sense than conducting the courses person, partly because of the very nature of how colleges of education are now being structured.
"We're an academic program. We're not designed for customized [face-to-face] workshops in any way," said Lisa Dawley, a professor of educational technology at Boise State University, in Idaho.
Dawley and her teammates recently began an online professional development program in August. The online program is designed to provide K-12 educators and administrators access to three-week instructor-led online workshops that cover courses such as merging technology into the classroom. Dawley said that the program will also be expanded to provide teachers workshops dealing with common-core standards for the state of Idaho.
Arizona State University has also created their own version of online professional development for teachers. In 2006, the university joined forces with the state department of education and produced the IDEAL program, which stands for Integrated Data to Enhance Arizona Learning. The program offers online courses to develop teachers' instructional skills in areas such as language arts, math, science, technology integration, classroom management, and English as a second language. Courses are usually over a span of six to eight weeks and cost around $65.
"We've known for a long time that the best professional development is job-embedded and sustainable within [instructors'] own time, and able to be accessed by individuals as well," said Rick Baker, the associate director of IDEAL.
Aside from local colleges of education, school districts are hosting their own version of online professional development. Mark Hess, the executive director of instruction, technology, and assessment for the Walled Lake district in Michigan is turning to the online world to enhance professional development experiences for his educators through hybrid programs. His program includes the formation of a video library that shows expert teachers demonstrating a number of different teaching techniques. The video library will be paired with the district's traditional week-long face-to-face workshop next year. Hess's hope is that teachers will walk into the traditional workshop with more knowledge because of the videos and the workshop will be used for more discussion and interaction then instruction.
Another online professional development program that is making waves is Channel One, which has recently partnered with Promethean Inc. These two companies have created a program that will be piloted this month in Ashland Elementary School in Prince William County, Va. Each classroom in the school will be given an interactive whiteboard, provided by Promethean, which will air daily broadcasts and give students various lessons and quizzes, while Promethean will give teachers short daily tutorials on using various whiteboard tools and improving teaching methods with the interactive whiteboard.
The Channel One program will provide teachers a list of options for professional development that will highlight a "skill of the day," such as incorporating various online tools such as Google Docs into lessons or creating digital assessments. All the tutorials will be kept online so that an educator can take a look back and review the material.
"So many teachers come back from a traditional professional-development session, and they remember only a very small portion, only what they were ready to get and grasp," Shannon Kula, an education solutions manager for Promethean, said. "This delivers it in bite-sized chunks, and it's customizable."
So with the ever-growing demand for online professional development, it looks like we will be seeing more companies like Channel One offer programs for schools. Hopefully, this new way of professional develop will give teachers the flexibility they are looking for and give them resources to improve their techniques in the classroom.
360 Education Solutions is your advocate in the search for quality online teaching degree programs. As an advocate group founded specifically for educators, we provide you with the support and information needed to help you achieve your teaching certification and educational aspirations.