New Models of Hybrid Professional Development

  

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As technology becomes an increasingly important component in teaching, it is playing an essential role in professional development. In Education Week’s October publication, “Virtual PD Creates Connections,” Michelle Davis and Katie Ash discuss the benefits of a blended system of online and face-to-face professional development. This hybrid model allows teachers to receive small doses of PD digitally while meeting in person with PD professionals to synthesize the information in a more personal setting.

Online resources such as Edmodo and the PBS TeacherLine allow teachers to share ideas, view videos of expert teachers in the classroom, and take online courses, all according to their own schedules. The short length of these PD sessions allows teachers to handle topics as they need them. The blended approach can improve efficiency and effectiveness. Teachers can view video materials in advance to make their face-to-face time with instructors more productive.

Online resources may be especially useful as schools adopt the Common Core. As Ms. Ash points out, the total number of mathematics standards is small, only 28, but teaching them requires deeper exploration of each topic than most curricula currently provide. And since the same standards will be adopted by nearly every state, common core professional development will be applicable to teachers across state lines. With limited budgets, online forums are a useful tool for teachers trying to stay up to speed on the Common Core. The James B. Hunt Jr. Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy is one of several providers of PD resources on the Common Core. The institute has developed a series of YouTube videos featuring background on the CCSS. And many more teacher-targeted curricular resources are being developed to address the standards. What types of professional development does your school use? What do you think is the most effective model for professional development?