Distance Learning 101: PD Cohort Opportunity

On behalf of the Tech and DL Support Team, I’d like to invite you to consider participating in Distance Learning 101: Foundations of Distance Education & Blended Learning. It’s a professional development cohort focused on research, best practices, planning, and implementation of distance learning programming in MN ABE contexts.

Over the course of two months all participants will work with colleagues within their agency (teams generally consist of one admin/manager and at least one teacher/staff per agency) to develop a program/site plan that addresses:

• Recruitment: where will your agency look for students who will study online?
• Screening: how will you screen to be sure you have online-ready learners?
• Orientation: how will you clearly communicate the requirements of being a distance or blended learning student and orient students to the online materials and curriculum?
• Instruction: what curriculum will you offer students? How will you support and communicate with students who are studying on their own? What are the possibilities of blended instruction in your program?
• Assessment: how will you keep track of distance and blended learning students, monitor their progress, and collect data?

In the months following the course, each team will work to implement their site plan – supported by monthly webinars with all participants to share progress, ask questions, and receive support. This 6-month course is an excellent opportunity to start, reboot, or expand your distance learning and blended learning programming on an excellent foundation of shared knowledge and experiences and time to do this vital work.

Adam Kieffer (St. Paul ABE – Hubbs Center) will be the facilitator for this year’s cohort, and you can earn approximately 20-25 CEUs – so please join us!

All the details and further information can be found on the application form on this page – http://mnabe-distancelearning.org/professional-development – or directly HERE. Applications are due by September 20. The initial cohort kickoff will be on Friday, October 11 at the Hubbs Center in St. Paul. Stipends are available for travel and accommodations.

Please feel free to email Adam Kieffer at [email protected] with any questions or concerns. And please share this article or the application link with any of your colleagues who you think may be interested or benefit from this PD opportunity!