Transforming Professional Learning: A Conversation with the Field

During the spring of 2019, we held a webinar series exploring the future of educator learning. Our goal was to inspire schools, districts, and organizations to reimagine professional learning and to provide tools and examples to support implementation. Alongside key thought partners like Learning Forward, iNACOL, Next Generation Learning Challenges, Southern New Hampshire University, Digital Promise, reDesign, and The Learning Accelerator, we investigated key topics like, “Why does professional learning need to change?”, “What should it look like?”, and “How do we implement transformed professional learning models”. Over the course of 9 webinars, we got to engage with hundreds of practitioners from across the country (and even some international participants!), piloting interactive webinar formats that strove to “walk the talk” of next generation professional learning.

We’ve collected the recordings below for you to explore and share. They can be viewed as stand-alone webinars or as a full series.

Adam Rubin and Meaghan Foster of 2Revolutions help viewers rethink professional development by playing an interactive game. This webinar shares the limitations of traditional professional learning models, what a transformed professional learning model looks like, and how to design a next generation professional learning experience.

You can access the webinar recording on the Learning Forward website.

Adam Rubin and Meaghan Foster of 2Revolutions, Elizabeth M. Vincent of Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, and Kevin Schuttinger of Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools share a toolkit of resources that can help educators' implementation of innovative professional learning models.

You can access the webinar recording on the Learning Forward website.

This interactive webinar that guides you through a "tasting menu" of learning experiences from the Learn Next courses on Broader Definition of Success. You'll learn how you can use the courses to redefine success in your learning community and design learning experiences that incorporate 21st century skills and dispositions. This webinar is a great fit for teachers, instructional coaches, building leaders, and district leaders who want to ensure that traditional academic outcomes are not the only thing our schools teach and measure.

You can access the webinar recording here on YouTube.

For students to experience the future of learning, we need to transform educator learning. This webinar is the first in a three-part series focused on envisioning and realizing the future of educator learning. Participants are invited to attend all or part of this series.

In this first webinar of the series, we investigate the current state of educator professional learning and unpack why professional learning needs to change. We examine trends shaping the future of educator learning and envision what a next generation professional learning model could look like. Participants applied their learning by designing the Future of Educator Learning experience.

You can access the webinar recording on the iNACOL website.

This webinar asks participants to define their vision for the future of professional learning. They consider the shifts associated with a transformed professional learning model and explore a free toolbox of professional learning resources that can be used to promote personalized, competency-based learning for educators. Finally, participants ask questions from a panel of schools, districts, and professional development providers currently working to reimagine professional learning.

You can access the webinar recording on the iNACOL website.

The webinar begins by setting some policy context about key trends in educator credentialing, before delving into a specific case study of an innovative new Master’s program developed in partnership between online learning leader Southern New Hampshire University and education design lab 2Revolutions. Participants explore how this program seeks to ensure educators experience the future of learning through a robust competency framework and a limited “seat time” expectation. Finally, participants consider how we might redesign our credentialing programs so that they support the future of educator learning.

You can access the webinar recording on the iNACOL website.

Explore the world of educator micro-credentials and how they can be used as powerful tools to support professional learning. In this webinar, participants gain an understanding of the value of micro-credentials for measuring learning and how to integrate micro-credentials into professional development programs offered by districts, schools of education, and professional development providers.

You can access the webinar recording via Zoom.

As schools and districts make the overarching structural changes to transition to a competency-based education model, it's important to consider what shifts at the classroom level. What makes competency-based learning experiences different from traditional units or projects? How can teachers design competency-based curriculum?

Watch this hands-on webinar to get answers to these key questions. Participants analyze model units, explore the key features of competency-based curriculum, and leave with a toolbox of resources to transform teaching and learning.

You can access the webinar recording via Zoom.

We know that one-size-fits-all professional learning is insufficient to meet educators' needs. How would professional learning change if we designed for teacher choice and self-direction? The Learning Accelerator and 2Revolutions have worked with schools and districts throughout the country to support personalized professional learning. This interactive webinar explores key case studies and tools for grounding professional learning in educator problems of practice. Using these insights, participants have the opportunity to design their own personalized professional learning plan.

You can access the webinar recording via Zoom.