Reimagining Personalized Professional Learning
Personalized learning best practices apply to professional learning.
Effects of Personalized Learning
The teacher's role changes in profound ways in a strong blended learning program. Both students and teachers report that they can't imagine returning to a traditional model once engaged in a blended learning environment. Students are hungry to show up and learn. And, because schools are able to deliver content through online platforms, teachers have more time and energy to devote to creating the most positive, interactive learning experiences possible for their students. This is an exciting time where educators are thinking beyond a role that has time and lecture-based elements, to one in which teachers are answering questions, facilitating discussions and mentoring students.
So how are educators personalizing their own learning to hone their craft?
There is less emphasis these days on "sit and get" professional development and more of a shift to expand access to high-quality, ongoing, job-embedded opportunities for professional learning for teachers, administrators, and other education professionals. Digital Professional learning communities, peer-to-peer lesson sharing, and better use of data and formative assessment allow learning to happen anywhere and at anytime. The ever-increasing online resources offer teachers and administrators new opportunities to collaborate, learn, share, and produce best practices with colleagues in school buildings across the country.
Learning that change occurs when people work together
Empowering Educators Through Professional Learning Toolkit
This Future Ready toolkit from the U.S. Department of Education provides leaders with a multi-step decision-making process, practical tools, and numerous examples for setting a trajectory of positive change, moving assertively toward achievement of student learning and improvement goals.
Rhode Island Specific Professional Learning Opportunities
Innovation Powered by Technology Conferences
For several years, the RIDE Innovation Powered by Technology conference has brought together hundreds of educators, school leaders, students, and community members to connect on systemic planning around the effective use of technology and digital learning!
This one of a kind FREE conference provides the opportunity to network and connect with fellow educators and school leaders; to collaborate with and be inspired by educators and students across the state; to be immersed in ideas, strategies, and resources; as well as to meet face-to-face with well respected professionals in the field.
2016 INNOVATION POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
- September 17, 2016 - Building the Pathway to Student Success
- Read more about it...
2015 INNOVATION POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
- October 17, 2015 - Accelerating Personalization
- Read more about it...
2014 INNOVATION POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
- October 25, 2014 - Personalized and Proficiency-Based Learning
- Read more about it...
2013 INNOVATION POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
- October 5, 2013 - Cultivating Quality
- Read more about it...
Rhode Island Digital Learning Consortium
Working and Learning Together to Lead Our Digital Transformation
RIDE is partnering with LEAS, local universities, and organizations to provide professional learning opportunities to support educators and school leaders in the digital transition.
Rhode Island Digital Learning Consortium Members:
RIDE * Coventry * Cumberland * Smithfield * West Warwick * Highlander * TechAccess * RISTE * URI
Upcoming Events:
SIGN UP FOR EDC 534: SEMINAR IN DIGITAL AUTHORSHIP
Register now for this fully-online graduate Spring 2016 course!
This course introduces major theories of digital authorship as a pedagogical approach to digital literacy. The course includes a range of hands-on dynamic learning experiences that integrate digital media, technologies, and best practice strategies for teaching composition and authorship in a Web 2.0 world.
Renee Hobbs is teaching this graduate course beginning January 22, 2016. The course is open to both non-matriculating students and current URI graduate students in any major. This course is required for the Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy.
Click here to learn more about the course and to learn how to register
4TH ANNUAL SUMMER INSTITUTE IN DIGITAL LITERACY
For K-12 and college faculty, librarians and media professionals, it's a hands-on, minds-on learning experience like no other!
July 24 - 29, 2016, Providence RI
We're proud that the U.S. National Education Technology Plan 2016 mentioned the Graduate Certificate in Digital Literacy as an exemplary model of professional development in technology education!
Recent Events:
ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE OF NEW ENGLAND
- Special Education Educators *Teaching Assistants *
- November 19 and 20, 2015
- Crown Plaza Hotel, Warwick RI
- Conference Information and Registration
INNOVATION POWERED BY TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE:ACCELERATING PERSONALIZATION
- Educators *Leaders*Students*Families* Community Members*Business Leaders
- October 17, 2015
- Rhode Island Convention Center
- Conference Information and Registration
GOOGLE SUMMER INSTITUTE
- Educators*Leaders*Coaches
- Session 1: July 27, 2015 - July 31, 2015
Session 2: August 3, 2015- August 7, 2015 - Institute Information and Registration
URI - SUMMER INSTITUTE IN DIGITAL LITERACY
Rhode Island Digital Learning Consortium
RIDE * Coventry * Cumberland * Smithfield * West Warwick * Highlander * RISTE * TechAccess * URI
Fuse RI
The Highlander Institute's Fuse RI project provides just in time support for educators implement blended learning in their schools and classrooms. The Highlander Institute has assembled a "dream team" of Fuse RI Fellows - educators and administrators from schools around Rhode Island - each of whom partners with another district (separate from the one they work in) and collaborate with that district to assess readiness, analyze data, and help disseminate best blended learning practices based on each district’s specific needs.
Fuse RI Fellows hail from all corners of the state and are eager to collaborate, connect and learn with district partners during their two-year fellowship.
#EdChatRI - Online Professional Learning
Join educators, administrators, parents, and students as they debate, share resources, ask difficult questions, and collaborate with others on how to improve the condition of education. #EdChatRI is the hashtag for joining this live conversation, which can be viewed by anyone.
#Edchatri takes place every Sunday night @ 8PM on Twitter. There is a specific focus each week, which is determined in the days leading up to the actual chat. Join through a browser using Tweetdeck or other similar tool. Engage in conversations with a few by replying to their tweets. Use the @username to reply to one or many in the same tweet. If a person doesn’t respond then reply to another person or your moderator.
#Edchatri was created by Don Miller and Alan Tenreiro who were thinking outside the box about professional learning. They recognized that there is little opportunity for educators to get away from their own school and view the great things that are going on in other parts of the state/country. Although relatively new, EdChatRI has become an incredible collaborative tool for educators to discuss and create solutions to various problems through Twitter. It is a chance for educators and school leaders in the Ocean State to share best practices both in classrooms and in districts across the state.
LEARN MORE ABOUT...
6 MOST COMMONLY USED TWITTER TERMS
Twitter is a social networking platform with unique ways to engage with your network. As such, terms used to describe actions you can take on Twitter may not be in your usual vocabulary. This brief overview of these digital terms may help.
| TASK | COMMAND |
|---|---|
| @mention | By placing the @ symbol in front of a username, you can tag another user in your Tweet. |
| @reply | By starting your Tweet with @username, you can reply publicly to a single user. |
| Direct Message (DM) | A private message can be sent directly to a user on Twitter who is already following you. |
| Follower | A follower is someone who follows you on Twitter and sees your updates on his home feed. (Your home timeline displays a stream of Tweets from accounts you have chosen to follow on Twitter.) |
| Retweet (RT) | This is a way for someone to share a Tweet from another user's account< |
| Hashtag # | Using the # symbol in front of any word or phrase tags your Tweets. When someone clicks that hashtag, she sees your Tweet along with everyone else's Tweets using that same term. |
Explore the Future Ready Elements of Professional Learning
- Shared Ownership and Responsibility for Professional Growth
- 21st Century Skill Set
- Diverse Opportunities for Professional Learning Through Technology
- Broad-Based, Participative Evaluation
