WEST LAFAYETTE — Eventually, the spread of COVID-19 will be corralled, but until then a Purdue program to train teachers how to better engage and support students for online learning continues to be popular.
A new online teacher professional development program, funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Indiana Governor’s Office through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, offers a series of free online modules and micro-credentials to train teachers to teach effectively and comfortably in online and hybrid environments.
The modules form a foundation for how to plan, prepare, set realistic expectations, overcome access challenges, select proper tools and communicate online. They provide teachers with access to resources, highlight examples of effective online teaching and learning in diverse formats, and guide educators through designing effective online learning experiences. The modules also cover how to move from in-person classrooms to teaching online in both emergency and planned situations. More advanced modules will be developed in line with the Indiana State Virtual Instruction License, allowing teachers to add this licensure.
Additionally, the Purdue team will create modules focused on helping students and parents plan and prepare to learn effectively online and to overcome challenges of online learning at home.
The program will include free K-12 teacher access to the Purdue Repository for online Teaching and Learning (PoRTAL), a collection of freely available, peer-reviewed educational materials and tools. Amid the pandemic, with the mass exodus to online learning, the number of people using the repository doubled last year. A K-12 version also will become available to better serve teachers as part of the grant.
In continuing to develop the program, the Purdue team will tap the knowledge of teachers around the state and from as wide a perspective as possible, covering the entire K through 12 spectrum and incorporating, for example, specialists such as teachers of special education and English as a second language. Team members are also surveying schools to find out what’s being done to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic, what’s working and what’s needed.
For more information or to access the portal, visit purdue.edu/innovativelearning/supporting-instruction/portal/.
