What is Blended Professional Development?

Does your district or school implement blended professional development (PD)?  A growing number of districts and schools are enhancing their PD with by offering a mix of face-to-face and virtual learning opportunities, such as:

 

Typical Face-to-Face and Virtual Learning Activities

Face-to-face Activities

Virtual Learning

  • Workshops
  • Meetings: Team/grade level/curriculum
  • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs)
  • Coaching
  • Mentoring
  • Apprenticeships
  • Discussions and conferencing (audio, video)
  • Online courses
  • Webinars
  • Exploration of websites, blogs, wikis, multimedia materials, and social media

 

This example illustrates blended PD in action. Teachers deepen their knowledge of integrating technology into the writing process. They engage in a variety of online activities before and after their face-to-face team meetings. The sequence of activities builds on one another.  These learning opportunities are ongoing, job embedded, student-focused, interactive, and collaborative. 

 

PowerUp Your Professional Development offers vetted tools, guidelines, and resources to strengthen the face-to-face and online activities. Find:

 

 

 

 

What's New on POWERUP?

AIR Informs Episode #6: Meeting the Needs of Students with Disabilities During COVID-19

Remote learning requires adjustment for all students, but students with disabilities face additional challenges during the COVID-19 quarantine. In the latest episode of AIR Informs, Allison Gandhi, managing researcher and director of AIR’s special education practice area, describes some of these obstacles and shares strategies to help students make the most of this time.