The number of licensed users for the School Improvement Network’s PD 360 on-demand professional learning resource has tripled in the last year to more than 250,000 users.
Educators at more than 7,000 schools in 500 U.S. and Canadian districts use PD 360 to access hundreds of short, easy-to-use video segments that feature leading experts and real examples of classroom best practices. PD 360 also provides access to a learning community made up of what the company says is the largest group of educators in the United States sharing their professional learning ideas and expertise online.
“PD 360 has so far exceeded our expectations, with usage higher than we had anticipated," says Preston L. Coppels, director of instructional services for Virginia’s Loudoun County Public Schools. "In this time of tight budgets, there are many things we would cut before PD 360, because at least I know we can offer high quality PD to everyone.”
In only eight months, teachers in the Lamesa (TX) have accessed nearly 700 hours of professional development at times and in places that work for them. The district has saved $2,500 per school per year just from not having to hire substitutes for teachers away at training, officials say.
