Quality Content

Promoting powerful teaching and learning

Flexible professional learning for teachers

pd21 combines technology skills and integration training to bring the focus of technology implementation where it belongs – promoting powerful teaching and learning. pd21 is a flexible, personalized online K-12 professional development system that guides teachers to seamlessly integrate technology and 21st Century instruction into a standards-based lesson design process to meet curriculum goals and maximize student learning.

• Supporting Innovative 21st Century Teaching

  Skills-based staff development training tends to focus on developing isolated technology skills. Teachers may learn, and even master, technology skills, but they do so without developing  relevant strategies for integrating it into their standards-based curriculum and instruction in order to support improved student learning.

  However, weaving technology training into the context of best practices activities provides teachers with the high-quality, relevant resources and experiences necessary to support improved 21st Century instructional practices and effectiveness in the classroom. Combining technology skills with integration training brings the focus of technology implementation back to where it belongs – to efffectively engage, motivate and teach students.

• Sustainable and Relevant Professional Development

  Teachers need high quality, sustainable professional development in order to create and maintain effective instructional environments for their students. pd21 provides teachers with the integration strategies and classroom-ready resources necessary to create student-centered 21st Century learning environments.

  pd21 features a wide variety of curriculum based topics common to all K-12 classrooms, and teaches educators how to seamlessly integrate technology tools and 21st Century skills into the lesson design process to promote student engagement. High quality learning opportunities are offered in a variety of flexible formats and cover a wide range of technology integration topics. These include standard Microsoft Office applications, Web 2.0 tools, Internet usage and research through to theme-based subject specific technology classroom integration models, and effective best practice instructional strategies.  pd21 supports the individual learning needs of every teacher, allowing technology to become a readily accessible tool to engage students, reach curriculum goals and improve learning outcomes.

  The in2class library of standards-based technology integration activities provide teachers with job-embedded experience in implementing technology tools in the classroom.

• Anytime, Anywhere Learning for All Teachers

  pd21 provides ongoing, relevant and continuous learning for teachers with anytime access to a wide variety of high-quality professional development content. All courses are conducted online and are asynchronous. This allows for flexible, adaptive, and convenient learning for all participants, regardless of location, schedule or ability level.

• Provide Individualize Instruction

  Personalized Professional Development Plan

  pd21 offers multiple points of entry to relevant, effective content in a variety of flexible formats. Each format provides teachers with an opportunity to build an end-product in support of each resource objective.

  Self-Paced Books
  These comprise a library of short, interactive workbooks that cover foundation technical skills and provide samples of best practice technology integration models.

  Anytime Workshops
  The anytime workshops have been designed to teach participants how to design and develop their own standards-based technology integration lessons. The workshops span a variety of STEM specific and other curriculum areas and may be taken at any time and at any pace. Participants are required to self-assess their learning using the listed outcomes as a benchmark. Each workshop comprises 3-5 hours of professional learning.

  Instructor-certified workshops
  These asynchronous online classes are available anytime but must be completed over a two week timeframe. Each class is facilitated by an experienced tutor who guides participants through the activities, starts discussions, shares completed projects, and evaluates completed projects by providing feedback. Participants are required to submit work samples, integration ideas and contribute to group discussions in order to be awarded certification. Each class is at least 5 hours and participants are awarded a professional development certificate upon completion.

  in2class Integration Activities
  The in2class library contains over 150 technology integration activities from all core K-12 content areas that can be immediately used in the classroom. These project-based, practical integration activities build proficiency and provide an opportunity to translate professional development learning into immediately effective classroom practice. They also serve as the connection between the teacher’s own experiences as a 21st Century learner and the practical use of activities in the classroom.

• Easily Integrated And Embedded PD

  All pd21 resources are easily integrated and embedded into face-to-face staff professional development opportunities and meet all best practices for on-line learning. pd21 is designed to promote high quality teaching standards and is directly aligned to ISTE.NETS for Teachers. The technology integration activities in the in2class library are designed upon State, Common Core and ISTE.NETS*S Standards.