Designing Blended Professional Development for Teachers

Professional development that combines online and in-person activities offers a number of potential advantages for teacher learning. Online activities can extend the learning that occurs in face-to-face sessions, and in-person sessions can establish a strong foundation for teachers’ online interactions.

Mathematica held a webinar on May 9 at 2 p.m. ET regarding insights into how to design blended professional development for teachers. Staff from WestEd’s Reading Apprenticeship program discussed lessons learned from their efforts to integrate in-person and online professional development activities. They discussed the benefits of blended learning, when to use blended learning activities, and how to design online activities that enhance in-person learning. The webinar provided time for questions and discussing blended learning approaches to professional development.

This event was part of a project to share the lessons learned from the U.S. Department of Education’s Supporting Effective Educator Development grants. Mathematica Policy Research leads the project for the Office of Innovation and Improvement together with AEM and Knowledge Design Partners.