Facilitation Innovation

This video was created as a media project to support a future publication titled “Building a Supportive Partnership Through Blended Professional Learning.” The publication offers my view as an educator and professional learning (PL) facilitator on how incorporating digital resources into curriculum-based PL can contribute to more effective implementation. My Innovation Plan centers on the implementation of bended learning in a PL setting. I am hoping to have my article published in either Edutopia or the Reading Horizons Blog. The final draft of the article will be available after October 9, 2023. You can view a rough draft of the article below the video.

Every school and district provides teachers with some kind of professional learning (PL) experience. In fact, school districts in the US devote approximately 3% of their operating budget to PL (Killeen et al. 2002). Every school and district also understands the curriculum they choose affects teacher experience and student outcomes. It is crucial that these two areas of focus be brought together. According to Short & Hirsh (2020), schools and districts have the unique opportunity to enhance what teachers do in the classroom by providing high-quality instructional materials and ensuring they know how to utilize everything they offer through curriculum-based PL. 

Reading Horizons offers robust PL options, focusing not only on what is being taught but also on how it is taught. The literature shows that a blended learning approach to PL can bring about deeper learning and more successful curriculum implementation. Blended learning is when at least part of the learning takes place online and the learner has some control over the time, place, path or pace of the learning (Staker et al., 2014). Blended learning mixes different materials, interaction methods, and learning techniques to reach learners with different learning styles.

After the shift to digital learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators are more comfortable with using technology in their own classrooms and expect that their professional learning experiences will also be supported by technology. Blended learning PL is more effective because it offers the opportunity for ongoing, targeted, and relevant professional learning that truly supports educators through the implementation phase and includes engaging elements like modeling (Gulamhussein, 2013). There are a variety of ways to implement blended learning. My publication article outlines the innovative digital resources that Reading Horizons has developed to show up as a supportive partner to educators using the Reading Horizons Discovery curriculum.

To learn more about blended learning, please explore these supporting videos…

Re-inventing Education for the Digital Age | David Middelbeck | TEDxMünster

The Story of Blended Learning | Dan Lamoon | TEDxDeMontfortU

What is…Blended Learning?

References:

Gulamhussein, A. (2013, Sept). Teaching the teachers. Effective professional development in an era of high stakes accountability. Retrieved from Center: http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/system/files/2013-176_ProfessionalDevelopment.pdf

Killeen, K. M., Monk, D. H., & Plecki, M. L. (2002). School District Spending on Professional Development: Insights Available from National Data (1992-1998). Journal of Education Finance, 28, 25–50. https://doi.org/https://www.education.uw.edu/ctp/sites/default/files/ctpmail/PDFs/JEFArticle-KKDMMP.pdf

Short, J., & Hirsh, S. (2020, November 19). The elements: Transforming teaching through curriculum-based Professional Learning. Carnegie Corporation of New York. https://www.carnegie.org/our-work/article/elements-transforming-teaching-through-curriculum-based-professional-learning/ 

Staker, H., Christensen, C. M., & Horn, M. B. (2014). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. Wiley