Professional Development | News

edWeb Launches Free Learning Community Focused on Common Core Implementation

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 11/30/11

edWeb.net and Action Learning Systems have partnered to create a free online professional learning community for K-12 educators to learn about implementing Common Core State Standards.

edWeb is a free social network for education professionals. The platform supports blogs, discussions, file sharing, calendar sharing, wikis, messaging and chat, polling, and link sharing.

The new community will feature monthly webinars hosted by Action Learning Systems at edWeb.net, and "will be focused on issues from the teacher perspective, but is open to all K-12 educators," according to information released by the organizations. Webinars will also be recorded and archived for on-demand viewing.

The first webinar, "Common Core State Standards 101," will take place December 14 at 4 pm EST. The first presentation "is a foundational webinar that will cover the background, development, and overall organization of the Common Core State Standards and why they have potential to transform American education," according to information released by edWeb. It will be presented by Jason Willoughby and Kelly Smith of Action Learning Systems.

Issues covered by future webinars will include:

• Understanding the new standards;
• Deconstructing CCSS;
• Creating compliant assessments;
• Lesson structure and sequence;
• Maximizing learning time;
• Closing the achievement gap for English language learners;
• Students with disabilities;
• Student engagement strategies;
• Response to intervention;
• Advanced learners; and
• Helping students understand the standards.

Kit Marshall, president and CEO of Action Learning Systems, said, "We are delighted to be able to combine edWeb’s technology and expertise in running online communities with the knowledge and expertise of our professional development team to create an exceptional support program for K-12 educators faced with the challenge of integrating the Common Core State Standards into their curriculum."

The Common Core State Standards learning community is currently building membership. Educators interested in joining can do so at edweb.net/ccss.

Visit edweb.net for more information about edWeb. More information about Action Learning Systems is available at actionlearningsystems.com.