Professional Development at Your Fingertips
by Jessie Woolley-Wilson, President, K-12, Blackboard Inc.

Teacher quality is the number one controllable factor that can influence student achievement. But needless to say, maintaining high-quality teaching is easier said than done, especially when you consider increasing teacher demands, a revolving workforce and the new wave of teachers coming through alternative programs. As such, most districts look toward high-quality professional development opportunities as a means of ensuring highly effective teaching and increased student achievement.

But delivering high quality professional development can be expensive and logistically difficult. Depending on the program, teachers may be taken out of their classes for a given time and replaced by expensive substitutes. In many cases, teachers must travel long distances to attend sessions and be reimbursed for their travel. Once delivered, a successful professional development program also demands tracking and reporting, an often times manual and time consuming process.

The ideal solution would help K-12 schools and districts provide numerous professional development activities both cost-effectively and flexibly. It would meet the needs of diverse districts and empower them to offer Web-based and hybrid courses capable of reaching many teachers while also engaging them in vibrant educator learning communities. It would enable districts to not only provide a platform to deliver online courses, but also manage the registration, tracking and reporting of professional development activity. The solution would also include "real-world" content options that can be used within a course rather than fully developed courses. Ideally, the solution would also be hosted by the provider so the district could get up and running quickly and without technological sophistication.

That is why I’m so proud to introduce Blackboard Educator Central™. I believe that this new solution provides the connections that educators need to share best practices, deliver top-notch instruction and measure the impact of their professional development efforts.

Blackboard Educator Central empowers districts to deliver, manage and evaluate effective and affordable professional development while building powerful educator communities.  Users gain the ability to provide relevant, flexible and ongoing professional development whenever and wherever educators need it. And since not all teachers have the same needs, you can personalize learning with professional growth plans.

The solution also offers a powerful community resource for educators to connect, collaborate and share best practices. Whether it is peer-based coaching, mentorships or professional learning communities, teachers can easily connect beyond the classroom. In collaboration with MyLearningPlan®, Blackboard Educator Central also integrates management, evaluation and robust reporting capabilities to ensure that your professional development is managed online, without excess paperwork, and evaluated against your key goals.

Last, but not least, Blackboard Educator Central is a fully-hosted solution, so it’s easy to maintain with nothing to install or support. There are many more examples of how Blackboard solutions are enabling effective and affordable professional development at districts across the nation. Visit the Blackboard Educator Central website or contact us for more information.

Best wishes for success in your professional development endeavors!