Free Professional Development Resources for Distance Learning
With so many resources and tools available to support distance learning, we know a lot of teachers are wondering where to start. To help, we have rounded up some free resources for professional development. These free websites will get you started with distance learning, answer your questions, and help make this new style of teaching work for you and your students.
Learn the Theory
Michigan Virtual is an online learning platform that is offering a ton of helpful resources for teachers. They provide professional development resources and academic content. Their Teacher’s Guide to Online Learning is a great place to start if you are feeling confused about distance learning.
ISTE Early Learning Network is a professional learning community from the International Society for Technology in Education. They are offering tons of webinars on distance learning topics from media literacy to problem-solving and play-based learning at home.
Learn the Structure
EdWeb is a social network for teachers focusing on professional development. They have compiled free webinars for educators to help implement virtual learning and help you pivot your classroom skills to an online environment.
Virtual Virginia is an online learning portal from the Virginia Department of Education. They have created a free three-part series for teachers that provides training for Web conferencing, video lessons and virtual content.
Georgia Virtual Learning from the Georgia Department of Education has compiled a free online course for teachers that covers lots of virtual teaching skills. You can skim through the objectives for each section and pick the parts that are most relevant to you.
Learn the Tools
Get Set Up is an online learning resource that offers webinars on all types of topics. They have compiled a series of free webinars for teachers. Learn how to use common virtual learning tools like Zoom, Google Classroom and Youtube. They offer their webinars every day for free!
Google Classroom Teacher Center will teach you everything you need to know about Google Classroom. Check out their free tutorials and articles and you’ll be a pro in no time!
Zoom has created tons of short video tutorials that teach you about all the features you can use for distance learning. Pick and choose what you want to learn or watch them all.
Lalilo is offering a free webinar and tutorial videos as well! Check them out and see how we can help you with distance learning.
What resources have you been using for professional development for distance learning? Share your tips and ideas in the comments!
