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Thank you for visiting my Padlet dedicated to resources for Blended Learning PD and a forum to field discussion. Posts that are "blue" are articles designed to provide resources and thought provoking conversation about Blended Learning and Professional Development. Posts that are "green" are an area to ask a question for me or a colleague to respond to. Lastly, the post that is "purple" is a link to my Powtoon explaining the benefits of using blended learning for professional development purposes.

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Blended Learning for Professional Development

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HelloEducatorsAWESOMELets talk about Professional Development!What words come to mind?Let me introduce you to the concept of....BLENDED LEARNING If you described your PD sessions as boring, not engaging, and not relevant, then you have come to the right place.Blended learning is an "approach to education that combines online educational materials and

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If you have a question about Blended Learning uses for Professional Development, please post them here.

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4 Tips on Developing Professional Development for Blended Learning

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4 Tips on Developing Professional Development for Blended Learning

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With the growing prevalence of blended learning in classrooms across the country, the need for teacher training for effective implementation is more critical than ever.

In order to better understand the skills and training required to implement blended learning effectively, I conducted a three-year doctoral research study at three public school sites in Los Angeles. The study included interviews with teachers and administrators, a survey, observations of classrooms and professional development sessions, and an extensive literature review on blended learning. Although 80 percent of the 32 teachers and administrators who participated in the study said that best practices for teaching used in traditional classrooms applied to blended-learning classrooms, a full 90 percent added that effective implementation of blended learning required additional skill sets beyond the traditional classroom model. Furthermore, 80 percent of participants said that they would benefit from additional blended-learning training to develop instructional approaches that facilitate conceptual understanding and application. These numbers clearly highlight the need for traditional professional development to undergo a disruptive makeover in order to be truly effective for educators utilizing blended learning (the Christensen Institute wrote more about disruptive models of professional development here).

Based on the results of the study, here are four ideas school leaders should consider incorporating into their blended-learning professional development to help traditional teachers transition more effectively to blended teaching. At the Los Angeles Unified School District, where I serve as the blended-learning coordinator, we have woven these four ideas throughout the professional development offerings we have designed for blended-learning implementation.

1. Allow teachers to experience blended learning as a learner. Individualized differentiation and strategic grouping, coupled with a focus on constructivist learning experiences, are critical in developing understandings about how students learn. Effective blended-learning professional development can include learning experiences that highlight these instructional approaches, challenging how teachers view instruction and creating opportunities to understand student perspectives on learning in a blended setting. Experiencing blended learning as learners can also inform teachers' thinking about planning rigorous, project-based learning opportunities and the supports that are necessary for student success. Differentiating professional development based on teacher needs and focus areas can also demonstrate how technology in a blended-learning setting can enhance learning and engagement.

2. Encourage peer observations in blended-learning classrooms. In addition to conversations on effective instructional techniques in a traditional classroom model, effective professional development should include peer observations and collaboration, modeling of innovative best practices, and the integration of blended-learning programs in instructional practice. School leaders can dramatically impact teachers' understanding of blended learning by modeling innovative best practices and creating opportunities for observations of disruptive classrooms. This approach, however, can be challenging because many school leaders may not have a strong background in blended learning and may be hesitant to implement blended-learning approaches during professional development sessions. The challenge persists at many school sites because school leaders are tasked with serving as instructional leaders to support a learning approach for which they may not have extensive experience. Considerations for support from experienced teachers or outside experts are highly recommended. Most teachers who participated in the study said that they had difficulty envisioning effective blended-learning implementation. Teachers suggested that observing peers at other school sites to be exposed to a wider range of approaches and philosophies is an important element of professional development: they want to see what blended learning looks like.

3. Offer technology implementation training, including lessons on educational software utilization, troubleshooting, and student data analysis. Several teachers in the study also expressed an interest in adding a technology training component for students and teachers to ensure smooth lesson transitions, minimal student frustration, and effective planning. Although technological fluency is critical for success, any training on technology should be grounded in instructional practice with clear connections to how technology can enhance and inform student learning opportunities. Technology integration should be woven into professional development on instructional practice instead of becoming the focal point. This approach cannot be emphasized enough.

4. Teach classroom management strategies specifically for a blended-learning classroom. Although teachers who participated in the study endorsed blended learning overall, they conceded that implementing blended learning with fidelity is extremely challenging. The multitasked classroom environment can be difficult to plan and manage. Furthermore, technical difficulties can derail wonderful lessons, and conceptual understanding achieved through collaboration can be challenging to design. Educators-teachers, as well as administrators-need substantive training and support in classroom management specifically for blended-learning classrooms in order to be successful. In addition to establishing traditional classroom expectations, educators must consider the impact of digital citizenship as well as logistical considerations regarding software access and hardware management.

At LAUSD, we use these four elements to establish an authentic theory-to-practice experience for our teachers and administrators from concept introduction to classroom implementation. In addition to professional development opportunities, educators join a blended-learning cohort to facilitate collaboration, classroom observations, and resource sharing.

Effective blended-learning implementation will take time, but carefully planned professional development can ensure enthusiasm for the approach, greater understanding of what it looks like, and, ultimately, a richer educational experiences for our students.

For more, see:

Stepan is the blended learning and data coordinator at the Los Angeles Unified School District. His dissertation is titled, "Effective Instruction in the Blended Learning Classroom." Email: [email protected]

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4 tips for developing effective professional development for blended learning - Christensen Institute

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With the growing prevalence of blended learning in classrooms across the country, the need for teacher training for effective implementation is more critical than ever. In order to better understand the skills and training required to implement blended learning effectively, I conducted a three-year doctoral research study at three public school sites in Los Angeles.

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Explains how blended learning PD can help teachers make the most of their blended learning classrooms.

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Technology Solutions That Drive Education

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When Cincinnati Public School teachers need extra training to help them better run their blended-learning classrooms, the professional development sometimes comes to them - rolling up in the district's Tech Truck, a training center on wheels, outfitted with current and emerging classroom teaching tools and a one-on-one coach for the educators.

Advertising its unique purpose with an eye-catching exterior, the large, boxy Tech Truck travels around the city and makes a stop two or three times a year at each of the district's 63 schools.

That gives busy teachers a chance to tweak their skills with a minisession before and after school and during planning periods.

The Tech Truck is just one of many professional development formats that CPS leaders have deployed to provide the ongoing and in-depth PD that teachers need to fully embrace and succeed with the technology they're expected to incorporate into their pedagogy, says Erin Heinrich, one of the district's blended-learning coordinators.

Cincinnati Public Schools' Tech Truck takes professional development to go. Photography by: Jonathan Robert Willis

That technology includes HP and Lenovo laptops, tablets, G Suite for Education, NEC projectors, eBeam, Schoology learning management system, LanSchool classroom management software and Kajeet hotspots (for students to use at home). Teachers also have a range of digital curricula at their disposal.

"A lot of the challenge is helping teachers make the transition from the sage on the stage to the guide on the side, in addition to helping them understand and leverage technology tools in the best possible way," Heinrich says. "In doing that, we realize there's no one-size-fits-all. So, we try to meet our teachers where they are because, just like our students, not every teacher learns in the same way."

Blended learning, where students split their time between in-class lessons and online work, has become increasingly popular in K-12 education due to its success. Realizing this, school districts like CPS have invested in training for teachers to get with the program.
MORE FROM EDTECH: Read about the five key areas of professional development for K-12 teachers!
Take a Multifaceted Approach to Professional Development

CPS teachers can participate in traditional group-based workshops, one-on-one coaching, live webinars and self-paced online courses for their PD.

In addition, at the end of the school year, the district puts on a two-day Innovative Practices Conference to give teachers new ideas on how to integrate technology into their pedagogy.

And within each school, technology coordinators and "rock star" teachers with blended-learning experience are available as mentors for other teachers.

This multipronged PD approach is working, says CPS CIO Sarah Trimble-Oliver: "We now have enough sustainability in the schools and enough teachers in every building with the know-how and experience to help other teachers. But we're still on the journey to making the transition. Helping our teachers using a blended-learning approach is an ongoing effort."

Teachers Need Exposure to Technology to Learn the Ropes

Most schools recognize they need PD to support teachers as they work to incorporate technology into the classroom, but schools too often use a strategy that lacks diversity and is one-stop in nature, says Amy Valentine, executive director of the Foundation for Blended and Online Learning.

"Teachers need to have exposure at least 20 times - at least 20 touchpoints of how to integrate this new approach into their classroom," she says. "It takes very strong training to give teachers the tools and support they need to feel empowered and to empower their students. Without it, it's just too easy to default to the traditional educational approach, which relies mostly on books and worksheets and using technology from a superficial perspective."

Officials at Highline Public Schools in Burien, Wash., agree that more is better when training teachers.

The district, which has 20,000 students and 900 teachers, put PD front and center as it gradually incorporates blended-learning programs across its 32 schools.

Highline's Superintendent Susan Enfield says the school district realized early on that, despite the myths, PD begins with the recognition that teachers have varying comfort levels with blended-teaching practices. Even millennials who grew up with technology, she says, may struggle with the paradigm shift.

Photography by: Jonathan Robert Willis

"It's important to acknowledge that challenge up front so the discomfort our teachers may feel is allayed a bit because we're saying, 'Look, we get it. This is new, it's different, it's big,' " says Enfield. "Part of our strategy was, how do we provide multiple entry points for teachers who are at different places on that comfort continuum?"

To ensure that their PD strategy met varying needs across the district, each school is asked to identify a teacher leader to take part in the districtwide Personalized Learning Cohort, which also includes participants from the district's departments of technology, curriculum and instruction and career technical education, as well as the personalized-learning team.

"Our vision is that those teachers go back to their school leadership and see where they need to home in on specific areas of work that are relevant to each school's goals. Our team then supports cohort members to help lead the work at their sites," says Rebekah Kim, Highline's executive director of teaching, learning and leadership.

To measure progress and ensure that training options are effective, the district seeks feedback from cohort participants and leaders to ensure content and learning is relevant and aligned to the work taking place in schools. "We want to know what they got out of it, what worked and what didn't," Kim says.
VIDEO: See where K-12 schools should invest to start a successful blended learning program!
Teacher-Led Professional Development Programs Are Effective

Enfield and Kim say that tapping into and supporting teacher leadership is the single most important step for ensuring a successful - and lasting - transition to blended learning.

"If teachers are part of leading the initiative, their colleagues are going to respond very differently than if it's a central office person or an outside partner," Enfield says.

Let Teachers Set the Pace for Their Own Development

This concept is so important that Argosy Collegiate Charter School in Fall River, Mass., made it a point to give teachers a strong say in how and at what pace blended learning was implemented in their classrooms.

"In the first year, it was really up to the teachers to figure out what it looked like for them," says Joshua Miranda, blended and online learning coordinator and a history teacher at ACCS.

Teachers are also playing a more predominant role in ACCS training sessions. The school initially brought in a Google instructor to help teachers understand how to effectively use Google classroom and sharpen their understanding of blended-learning concepts.

After that, Miranda and other teachers took over the training. "If it's a teacher doing the training and saying, 'This is really cool,' then other teachers are more apt to listen," Miranda says.

The teacher-centric training approach worked for Argosy Collegiate. By the end of the first year, 100 percent of teachers were effectively using technology in various ways within their classrooms, says Miranda.

"Now our professional development efforts will be focused on how to make blended learning that much better and that much more effective," he says.

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Add a Dash of Professional Development to Your Blended-Learning Program

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When Cincinnati Public School teachers need extra training to help them better run their blended-learning classrooms, the ­professional development sometimes comes to them - rolling up in the ­district's Tech Truck, a training center on wheels, outfitted with current and emerging classroom teaching tools and a one-on-one coach for the educators.

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Ongoing, sustained professional development is the cornerstone of positive school change--but how do you find the time?

With professional development time and budgets stretched to the max, many schools are looking for alternatives to traditional face-to-face PD workshops. Blended learning, which combines elements of both traditional and online learning, is emerging as a viable model to support lifelong learning for teachers.

What Do We Mean by Blended Learning?

Blended learning refers to any learning model in which part of the instruction happens in a physical, face-to-face environment and part of the instruction happens online. To be considered blended, the course needs to be more than a regular classroom that incorporates digital elements into instruction. In blended learning, students get at least part of their formal instruction online with some control over their time, pace or path through the learning materials. The Online Learning Consortium defines blended learning as a model in which 30%-70% of student learning happens online.

Some school districts have experimented with blended learning courses for students, perhaps by combining online course content from a university or private company with a teacher who acts as a facilitator during the school day. These blended courses can combine the best of both worlds, with core content developed by leading experts in the field and ongoing support, practice and discussion facilitated by a live teacher.

Blended learning is a growing part of the professional development landscape for teachers. Blended learning may be especially appropriate for professional learners. Teachers in a blended course can consume at least part of the course content on their own time and at their own pace. But unlike pure online courses, they also have the benefit of a local peer network and accessible facilitator or coach to keep them motivated and extend and enrich their learning.

Here is what a blended approach to learning may look like:

o A district creates a blended course for teachers that consists of one day of face-to-face professional development each quarter with ongoing online learning and discussion in between.

o A principal purchases an online course for all of her teachers, which they can access on their own time or during planning periods in the school day. During monthly staff meetings, the principal leads discussions using a facilitators guide, and teachers take turns modeling ways that they have applied the new strategies they have learned in their classrooms.

o A group of teachers attends a traditional professional development workshop during the summer. After they return to school, they participate in an online learning community where they can ask their trainer questions as they come up, access continuing learning resources, and discuss classroom applications with their peers.

o A teacher signs up for an online course as part of his license renewal plan. Once a month, he meets with others in the district who are also taking the course to discuss course content and practical applications.

What the Research Tells Us

A big part of the appeal of blended learning lies in the research on effective professional development: "one and done" PD workshops simply aren't effective. Teachers may learn the theory in this way, but putting it into practice to change what they are doing in the classroom is much harder.

While most traditional PD workshops offer between 8 and 15 hours of instruction, research shows that teachers need closer to 50 hours of instruction before PD demonstrates a measurable impact on classroom practice and student learning. Joyce and Showers argue that changes in classroom practice can only be achieved through ongoing learning opportunities supported by formal coaching. Research tells us that effective PD must:

Be ongoing and sustained

Take place over time

Include repeated opportunities to practice applications

Provide continued access to peers and coaches for support

However, achieving this much instructional and coaching time under the constraints of the school day and year is next to impossible. This is where blended learning approaches can really shine. With blended learning, professional development can be reimagined as a combination of self-paced online instruction, traditional workshops, real-space discussion groups, virtual peer groups, and ongoing face-to-face and online coaching. The elements that are online vs. brick-and-mortar may vary depending on the course being taught and the needs of the learning community.

Building a Virtual Learning Community

Many districts are starting to embrace online virtual learning communities to support their PD initiatives. Online professional learning communities can be created to support specific PD courses, or as virtual gathering places where teacher teams, departments, and grade level or content area groups can share their learning experiences and support each other.

A shared district LMS can form the backbone of a district-wide virtual learning community for teachers. While many districts have taken a "bottom up" approach to selecting an LMS, allowing individual teachers to choose their own free or freemium platforms, a shared platform provides significant benefits. Having all teachers on the same platform opens up opportunities for shared professional learning activities and virtual peer support. Using the same platform for both student learning and teacher professional development keeps things much simpler for teachers, staff and the IT department-that way there is only one platform to learn and support.

The shared LMS in a blended learning environment can host many of the online elements of blended professional development. In eChalk, districts can create online classes for teachers in the same way that teachers create online classes for students. Within an online PD class, teachers can:

Access course materials, including documents, video lectures, and online lessons

Complete online assignments and assessments

Follow course news and calendars

Participate in online discussions with peers

The LMS can also provide platforms for peer support and coaching outside of the context of a formal class. Schools and districts can form Groups to support the needs of specific departments, grade levels, content areas, or special populations such as ESL or SPED. Within the Group, teachers can share news and resources, participate in online discussions, and plan offline activities. The online Group acts as a forum to support ongoing peer learning and coaching for teachers.

As districts continue to look for ways to support effective professional learning and transformative school change, new models of blended learning may provide the best value for the time and money invested. But to make these models work, districts need a shared platform to host courses and keep professional learning communities connected. The answer may be as simple as extended the ways they think about their LMS.

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For Effective Professional Development, Just Hit Blend

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Ongoing, sustained professional development is the cornerstone of positive school change--but how do you find the time? With professional development time and budgets stretched to the max, many schools are looking for alternatives to traditional face-to-face PD workshops. Blended learning, which combines elements of both traditional and online learning, is emerging as a viable model to support lifelong learning for teachers.