Online and Blended Professional Development

DRK-12 PERSPECTIVES ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Grantee leaders in STEM professional development lay the foundation for this Spotlight as they reflect on the current terrain and promising directions for the field.

Emerging Design Principles for Online and Blended PD
2017 CADRE FellowsBetween February and September 2017, awardees representing 11 projects participated in a series of activities designed to elicit and form consensus around emerging design principles for online and blended teacher PD programs in K–12 STEM education. The resulting principles are organized and presented around three themes: 

  1. Motivating and sustaining engagement that builds knowledge and advances professional goals
  2. Creating opportunities for teachers to collaborate as learners
  3. Supporting reflection on content and practice

Participating awardees also described opportunities and challenges associated with each theme in online and blended settings. Finally, they highlighted opportunities for further research that could enhance the design principles presented, inform the development of new principles, and address challenges that are common across projects.

Video Reflections
Susan Kowalski (BSCS), Brian Reiser (Northwestern University), and Arthur Powell (Rutgers University) reflect on what they've learned through their work developing and implementing PD programs. 

The Importance of Professional Development and Teacher Learning for Educational Improvement 
Chris Dede describes the spectrum of professional learning that can lead to educational improvement: from informal, self-directed teacher learning to formal professional development. 
 
He situates this spectrum in today's changing education landscape and highlights the potential for digital tools to transform student and teacher learning as well as the role of DR K-12 in supporting this transformation.

TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT ONLINE & BLENDED PD PROJECTS
Fourteen DR K-12 projects featuring online or blended PD programs responded to a recent CADRE survey on their work and interests in this area. We are excited to share information about their individual efforts in the virtual Poster & Product Showcase, as well an infographic summarizing preliminary survey results across projects.
 
If your project focuses on online or blended PD and you didn't have a chance to complete our survey and share your information, it's not too late. Complete the  survey now. We will continue to update and disseminate the Spotlight as we receive new information and plan activities around grantee identified topics of interest.
 
 
Participating Projects:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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