The world is changing at a rapid pace. Technology advances have transformed how people interact with others, conduct business, and learn. The rise of the digital age, the Internet of Things, and the growing use of artificial intelligence offer new tools for learning, and teachers and students must know how to use these tools. It’s an exciting era, but one that requires continuous, relevant professional development (PD) to ensure that teachers are current with the newest findings and latest technology in the education field.
However, traditional, one-size-fits-all PD programs are not providing what teachers and district staff need to meet the demands of this environment. Only 29% of teachers surveyed said that they were highly satisfied with the PD that their districts offered. Teachers fresh out of college have different needs from the veteran teachers they are joining. For example, paraprofessionals working with special needs students will require a learning path different from one that a high school English teacher might need.
To optimize time spent in PD, teachers and staff must be offered learning opportunities that are relevant to their position in the district and appropriate for their career stage. Learning is most effective when provided incrementally and continuously. However, educators have limited time to commit to continuing education classes. Personalized online PD offers a modern solution to these challenges.
5 Benefits of Offering Online PD Opportunities
1. School Leaders Can Offer Relevant Learning Opportunities
With online PD, school leaders can offer faculty and staff various learning opportunities in addition to mandated training and necessary district-wide orientations for new initiatives and programs. Districts can create learning pathways and lessons to meet the diverse needs of school personnel. Teachers will no longer have to sit through PD days that offer them little new information. They may earn credentials for existing knowledge and move on to expand their skills and knowledge in a direction that fits best with their position in the school and their career stage and goals.
PD facilitators in the district may incorporate school technology and curricula in lessons to ensure relevancy. This way, teachers can reinforce their learning by applying what they have learned in their classroom immediately.
2. The Interactive Nature of Online PD Helps Learners Retain Information
Topics can be broken down into small, easily internalized units with a single learning objective. Quizzes and challenges provide immediate assessment and feedback to ensure that the learner has mastered the content before moving on. As modern educators know with their own students, active learning has a far more significant impact than passive learning.
While the lecture format used in traditional PD sessions can impart large amounts of information in a short period, it doesn’t require learners to engage in higher-level thinking. The interactive nature of online learning keeps learners engaged with the materials so they will critically consider the content, develop questions, and seek answers, which helps codify and retain information.
3. Learning Is Continuous, Current, and Self-Paced
Traditional PD programs schedule full-day workshops and conferences throughout the school calendar, with weeks and months between sessions. Online programs offer a more effective learning method by making lessons available throughout the year. Educators may engage in PD weekly or even daily, which keeps new learning fresh in their minds.
Online coursework will reflect the newest findings and technological advances in education. A district’s development team can easily update lessons to reflect the most current issues in the field, and educators can tap into this bank of information regularly.
Teachers bring different levels of knowledge and skills to their professional growth. With online programs, new skills may be mastered incrementally at the learner’s pace. Those who need more time and practice to understand a particular concept will have that time. Others may be able to quickly move through materials and progress to deeper learning.
4. Learners May Fit Learning into Their Schedules to Learn When and Where They Wish
Flexibility is one of the most popular features of online learning. Rather than having to leave their students to pursue professional growth and earn new credentials, teachers may access lessons when and where it is convenient for them—all they need is an internet connection.
From a mobile device or desktop computer, educators can fit small bits of learning into their schedule. Time spent in a doctor’s waiting room or in a car waiting to pick up children from an activity is also no longer wasted. These small, reclaimed moments can add up to impactful learning.
5. A District Can Streamline All PD in One Learning Hub
There will always be a need for in-person PD sessions, as learning as a group has benefits. It promotes collegiality, and certain training, such as CPR/AED training, may be best offered as a face-to-face class. Fortunately, online PD can work in tandem with these whole-group sessions. School leaders can assign prerequisites and share related coursework before in-person events, and districts can offer replacement courses for learners who are unable to attend in-person training.
Conclusion
Modernizing your district’s PD program with online opportunities will keep educators updated with the skills and knowledge needed to teach in a modern classroom. The MobileMind learning hub enables school leaders to manage and track virtual and in-person learning in one space.
Online PD makes it possible to offer teachers and staff individualized, relevant, and engaging lessons, and teachers will appreciate that they do not have to leave their classrooms for their sessions.
There is no other modern professional development solution consolidating all training efforts while providing a learning hub that streamlines and integrates remote and in-person professional learning for schools. Are you ready to level up your district's professional learning with MobileMind? Schedule a professional learning consultation here.
