Professional Development in Blended Learning

The future of education depends on how well we invest in the people who deliver it. In today’s rapidly evolving educational landscape shaped by AI, digital tools, and shifting learner needs, upskilling our teachers and staff isn't optional; it's foundational. Here are some best practices we’ve found effective: ✅ Make professional development continuous, not episodic Ongoing, embedded learning (coaching, microlearning, PLCs) leads to sustainable growth, far more than one-off workshops. ✅ Leverage technology with intentionality Train staff not just how to use tools, but why, focusing on outcomes like engagement, accessibility, and personalization. ✅ Center learning on real classroom challenges Professional development must connect to what educators face daily. Relevance breeds retention and motivation. ✅ Create a culture of learning at every level When leaders model curiosity and openness to growth, it cascades throughout the organization. ✅ Elevate educator voice and agency Upskilling works best when teachers co-design their learning journeys and feel ownership of their development. What strategies are working in your schools or organizations? I’d love to hear your insights. 👇 #K12 #EdLeadership #TeacherDevelopment #LifelongLearning #ProfessionalGrowth #FutureOfEducation

What makes a blended learning solution truly impactful? If you're looking for inspiration, this Learning Uncut episode with Millie Law from ANZ Bank is a masterclass in business-aligned learning design. The initiative emerged from ANZ's strategic workforce planning, identifying business development as a critical capability need for their home lending specialists. The L&D team partnered closely with the business to understand both performance gaps and mindset barriers that were holding back home lending specialists from proactive customer engagement. The solution beautifully combined self-paced learning, peer workshops facilitated by respected internal coaches, and practical application with real customers. By addressing both skill development and mindset shifts around customer engagement, the program achieved sustained improvements of 20-25% in key business metrics. The success in Australia led to adaptation for New Zealand operations and integration into ANZ's core lending curriculum. What struck me most was how well-crafted this initiative was from end to end - from understanding business needs and connecting with individuals, to engaging influencers and measuring impact. It's such a thorough example of professional L&D practice. Thank you Millie for joining me to share this outstanding work that rightfully won the 2024 AITD award for best blended learning solution. Join us as we explore how the Better BD program achieved such significant outcomes. This episode is filled with useful insights to help L&D professionals create high-impact solutions. Listen on your favourite podcast app or go to the episode landing page to listen and access additional resources: https://lnkd.in/eyCkAPPY #LearningUncut#LearningAndDevelopment #BlendedLearning #CapabilityDevelopment #PerformanceConsulting

Over the past few years, Michael Nelson and I have taken long-term hybrid approaches to professional learning in our individual and collaborative work. Hybrid work consists of 3 or 4 in-person workshops and 60–90-minute virtual learning sessions the other months. These sessions can include on coaching or specific learning for school leaders and their teams based on evidence we collect from previous sessions. The point of hybrid work is to be fluid to meet the needs of the individual leaders or school leadership teams, but needs to be balanced with a critical friend/accountability partner approach to keep everyone focused. Deidre Le Fevre et al. (2019) outline six necessary elements of effective professional learning and development: ·     Adopting an evaluative inquiry stance ·     Being metacognitive ·     Valuing and using deep conceptual knowledge ·     Being agentic: Developing a sense of agency in ourselves and others ·     Being aware of cultural positioning ·     Bringing a systemic focus: Helping all of those engaged in learning to understand the whole system and not just their individual classroom What we have learned in our leadership team work through the use of collaborative inquiry is: ·     Leaders are sometimes in such a reactive mode (i.e. stress, workload, outside factors) that they don’t always recognize the problem they are trying to solve. ·     Leaders aren’t always able to define success criteria for how to solve their issue. ·     Not everyone on a leadership team understands why they are on the team. In order to do the work, we focus on fostering collective leader efficacy, which is a school or district leadership team’s ability to develop a shared understanding and engage in joint work that includes evaluating the impact they have on the learning of adults and students in a school. We try not to complicate the topic, so the important phrasing within our definition is: ·     Shared understanding ·     Joint Work ·     Evaluating impact We draw upon the work of Robinson, V. M. J., Lloyd, C. A., & Rowe, K. J. (2008). In their research paper titled, The Impact of Leadership on Student Outcomes: An Analysis of the Differential Effects of Leadership Types. Educational Administration Quarterly, 44(5), 635-674, they focus on 5 leadership dimensions which are: Planning, coordinating, evaluating teaching & the curriculum Ensuring an orderly & supportive environment Establishing goals & expectations Strategic resourcing Promoting & participating in teacher learning & development In our upcoming Global Instructional Leadership network series, we will do this work fully virtual. Just like when we were in the classroom as teachers, we find that when we ask questions we want to know the answer to, offer quality time for participants to process and develop their own understanding through the use of protocols, professional learning can go from a sit and get event, to one that inspires reciprocal learning.