Online Professional Development

Professional learning communities, supported with technologies that allow interaction and participation without boundaries of place or time, can provide a powerful venue for on-going professional learning for educators, especially in schools and districts that are underserved, have limited resources, or are geographically remote.

We have extensive experience designing and facilitating online interaction that supports knowledge building, with activities that range from 2-hour live webinars to year-long asynchronous seminars (e.g. the Adolescent Literacy Collaboratory). Web design, implementation and hosting for a range of educational programs, including customization and facilitation of collaborative learning environments, are particular strengths.

Guiding all of our work is the principle that effective professional learning must lead to improved student achievement.

Our work includes:

• Online and hybrid programs to support educators in long-term, practice-based learning
• Customized design of online professional learning activities
• Consultation on design and facilitation of synchronous and asynchronous online collaboration
• Customization of open source online collaborative environments
• Development of web sites and online toolkits to support professional learning
• Evaluation of online learning programs, including content analysis of online interactions

Related Work

• Adolescent Literacy Collaboratory
• The Knowledge Loom: Educators Sharing and Learning Together
• Web Site for Rhode Island High School Graduation Requirements
• New England Comprehensive Center and New York Comprehensive Center

Related Professional Services

Professional Learning:

• Alliance Collaboratories
• Technology tools in support of collaboration