Professional Development | News

Blended Schools Network To Launch MOOC for Online Teachers

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 03/27/13

Blended Schools Network (BSN), a non-profit focused on online learning, will launch a massive open online course (MOOC) to help teachers improve their curation of online learning materials and strengthen their professional networks.

The five-week course, Today's Blended Teacher: A MOOC Made for Community and Curation, will feature panel discussions and free course materials. According to a news release about the MOOC, weekly topics will include:

• The State of Blended Learning: How Do We Define Blended Learning?;
• Student Centered Learning: Using Inquiry and Project-Based Learning;
• Objective Assessment: Using Tests To Improve the Classroom;
• Digital Citizenship: Modeling Ethical Behavior to Students; and
• Disruptive Innovation: Flip Your Instruction.

Delivered via Google+, the MOOC will also feature content created using BSN's Private SoftChalk Cloud learning object repository and content authoring platform.

"This course is designed to connect participants rather than just deliver knowledge," said Mark Radcliffe, director of professional development for BSN, in a prepared statement. "Our goal is to have all participants leave with a new peer group that will persist beyond this course."

BSN "is a not-for-profit company that empowers schools to teach and learn online by providing K-12 curriculum, learning technologies, professional development, and a professional network," according to information released by the organization.

Today's Blended Teacher will run April 15-May 20. Participants are asked to be able to commit at least three hours each week to "curating quality resources and developing and critiquing new lessons," according to a news release.

For more information about the MOOC, visit cvent.com. To register for a free webinar, "Building Peer Groups with a MOOC," that will discuss the goals, agendas, and strategies of the course, visit gotomeeting.com.