Training for the Future: Online Professional Development is Changing Our World!

By Dan Rice & Nicole Cushman, MPH | September 1, 2015
Director of Training, Answer & Executive Director, Answer

Follow me @<insert creative name here>!

Find out what’s trending today with #yourfavoritetopic.

Tell all your friends to like our page!!!!

The writing is on the screen! Technology has enabled us to access information in myriad digital forms and changed how we interact with the world around us.

 

Today, people turn to the Internet for everything from personal and professional correspondence to researching the latest trends. Educators are no exception. They’re  searching for new ways to integrate technology into the classroom to further engage their students in all different subject areas. Many are also looking online for the most up-to-date professional development opportunities.

 

Why are so many professionals seeking out online professional development?

Three Main Reasons

We’ve observed three main reasons people are turning to online professional development to meet their needs:

1. Affordability. The per-person cost of online professional development is often far less than paying for a guest speaker (plus travel), and covering the cost of a substitute teacher during traditional school hours when many professional development sessions are offered. In a time when school professional development budgets are shrinking, spending wisely to get accessible, high-quality training is essential.

2. Convenience. Online professional development can often be completed during off-business hours. This is ideal for those who may only have nights, weekends or school holidays to complete the professional development their school or district requires. Participants can also access the information anywhere they have access to a computer, laptop or tablet with an Internet connection.

3. Learner-specific pacing. Unlike conferences or big group lectures, online professional development often allows learners to proceed at their own pace. Many platforms allow participants to stop, start and review the material repeatedly until they feel comfortable moving on to the next section of the training. This ensures that learners have gleaned as much information as possible from the material.

Rigorous and Beneficial

Despite these obvious benefits, some folks mistakenly believe online professional development cannot provide a rigorous and beneficial learning experience. Not so, according to the National Education Association. In 5 Myths of Online Professional Development—Busted, the NEA offers tips for selecting high-quality, engaging online trainings.

Specifically, they suggest looking for courses with active blogs or discussion boards; visible interaction from instructors; backing from an accredited institution; data from follow-up surveys with participants or their employers; and virtual demonstrations that allow you to preview course content.

The NEA concludes, “The bottom line: properly designed online programs will be as challenging—or more—than a traditional in-person program. To make sure, do your homework before signing up.”

What Teachers Say

Here at Answer, we have a great deal of experience with online training, and we hear a lot from teachers and other youth-serving professionals about why it works for them. Here's what Jessica Hastings, a health and science teacher for grades 6 to 12 in Delaware, says: 

“I enjoyed the fact that while I was taking the course, I could use resources from the online workshop to supplement activities in my classes and have my students learn with me. This provided additional teachable moments by allowing the students to feel empowered to help the teacher with classwork. This also modeled the importance of education and learning, even as an adult.”

Thanks, Jessica. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

Offering affordability, convenience and learner-specific pacing, online professional development is a growing trend for professionals in many different fields—and it’s the only form of professional development you can show up to in your pajamas!

 

Dan Rice is the director of training at Answer. You can contact him at drice@rutgers.edu.

Nicole Cushman, MPH, is the Executive Director of Answer. You can contact her at nicole.cushman@rutgers.edu.

 

Did you know? Answer, a national sexuality education program based at Rutgers University, has developed a series of online professional development workshops to provide teachers the support they need in several content areas of sexuality education. The suite of online learning opportunities includes workshops on anatomy and sexual response; boys and sex ed; contraception; healthy relationships; LGBTQ issues in schools; pregnant and parenting teens; and STD basics.

Each workshop is led by an expert facilitator and includes interactive elements such as videos, instructional games and discussion boards. You can learn more about Answer’s online professional development workshops by visiting the Answer website.