Beforehand…develop a data-driven starting point and prepare your audience

• Purposely determine how to use appropriately blend learning for the audience, event, and content. Technology can be a great time-saver - for example, you can hold the principals’ meeting via webinar rather than having administrators leave their campuses; portions of New Teacher Orientation can be viewed or completed online. Regardless, technology use must promote the intended outcomes of the instructional experience. Don't use technology just because it’s available. Determine which parts of the professional learning could be technology-based, and which might be better suited for face-to-face engagement. An important factor in planning is to divide with intent.
• Use online reporting tools. Before the meeting, online reporting tools can help presenters and participants to review data. This is an important action to facilitate deeper discussion. Teachers might be asked to review three years of math assessment data to look for trends in strengths and weaknesses. Then as teachers get together face-to-face, they might research and plan for solutions. Questions and subtopics can be collected via email, discussion board or collaborative tool. Using these resources helps presenters tailor to the needs of their participants.
• Learn about the learners, and have the learners engage in the content. To capitalize on the benefit of blended learning when it comes to pacing and time, participants can begin to construct meaning by reviewing videos, reading online articles, or even researching a topic ahead of time. An online survey can be used as a pre-PD assessment in order to gauge the different levels of learners that will be present.

During your professional development session…see it, use it, learn it.

The benefits of employing blended learning strategies during professional development are huge. Adapting tools and methodologies from the blended classroom for adult learners allows for the gradual release of responsibility for these innovations to those who are expected to use them. Modeling, guided practice, collaboration, and independent use can all be incorporated to accomplish the goals of professional learning. Having teachers use hardware and software to experience the learner’s perspective often leads to increased considerations and creativity.

• Click away! Many school organizations have purchased hand-held response systems, fondly known as clickers. Using them as a way to chunk new information is simultaneously a public and anonymous way to gauge the scope of understanding, and a good way to increase active engagement. In a large group setting, participants might be asked to add their questions to an online discussion board, rather than parking a sticky note or raising their hand.
• Know your Tools and Apps! If students are using tablets as part of their instructional toolkit, teachers might use media apps during professional development to document their understanding, allowing them to play with the technology in a collegial setting. They may go online to delve into an aspect of the agenda with colleagues and then present the information to the larger group, creating a jigsaw. This can also be a way to provide differentiated pacing, as information for novices may be broken into smaller portions over a longer timeframe.

After (shocks)…make sure there are some. Keep them talking and doing!

A common complaint of staff development participants is that once the event is done, there is typically no plan for continued support or sustainability.

• Use technologies to record, share, and archive. Developing and virtually warehousing artifacts, including podcasts, video-clips, or blogs, can keep the ball rolling. These products can be used to bring new members up to speed and maintain focus on implementation.
• Mentoring at every level. Technology can be used as a supplemental mentoring tool, providing online office hours and a mechanism to build a community of learners supporting each other toward a common goal.