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"Chris Dede, a professor of learning technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is a leading authority on online teacher professional development. For 16 years, beginning in the early 1990s, Dede taught a course at HGSE called "Learning Media That Bridge Distance and Time." The rapid changes in interactive technology during that period brought the potential of online teacher learning into sharp focus for Dede. "I saw it as an important way of scaling up quality instructional practice, and an important lever for education reform, but also I saw that it wasn't going far very fast," he explains. Dede's investigations into online professional development led him to gather a group of researchers, distance-learning experts, and professional development providers at a conference at Harvard in 2005, and subsequently to publish, as editor, Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods (2006). The book, which explores the strengths and tensions of online teacher training, has become a key resource in the field."

Professional Development is no longer a "one-size fits all" experience. There are many different free technology tools that can be used to deliver sustainable professional development. Administrators, Teachers and Staff can experience professional development in their classroom, office, school district or even from the comfort of home. This workshop will give you free and different ways to deliver professional development to your staff and colleagues, keeping in mind that all of us, at some time or another, feel like the teacher in the teacher tube video below.

In September 2008 I created a list of 100+ learning professionals to follow on Twitter. This grew into the Twitter Directory (now renamed Connexions: Directory of Learning Professionals Online). But here is my selection of 100 learning professionals that will provide you with information, inspiration and/or interaction on a range of educational and workplace learning topics from around the world - via their blog, on Twitter or on other social networks. Listed in alphabetical order by surname together with their Top 10 Tools for Learning (where contributed).

Oftentimes these "professional growth plans" are scribbled out in 15 minute meetings with your principal, then "revisited" at the end of the year as a kind of autopsy. What would happen if we flipped this model on its head? What if instead we created a teacher-centered, always-on, and social approach to teacher improvement? One that connected them with dynamic resources and human communities that modeled new thinking and possibility, and that crucially built on their strengths?

This is the 3rd year we have invited learning professionals from around the world to contribute their Top 10 Tools for Learning to build the annual Top 100 Tools for Learning. Below are the learning professionals who have shared their lists in 2009 to help to build the Top 10 Tools for Learning Professionals in 2009.

In many schools and learning organizations, professional development is still an "event." It's something that happens a few times a year, imparting isolated chunks of information and strategy to educators. This type of learning is often not pervasive enough to inform everyday practice. Social media has the ability to change that. And teachers are starting to take this to heart.

"Summer has officially started for many of you! I know that you will probably be relaxing for the first few days, but eventually you may feel the need to be inspired and motivated for the upcoming school year! Social media provides us with incredible opportunities to choose the way we want to develop professionally. You can choose the topic, the medium, and who you want to learn from. You can choose the way you like to learn, because social media provides us with several multimedia experiences, such as webinars, LMS, live video, and more. The experience is usually dynamic and motivating because you are learning with others around the world! Additionally, you will be developing your Personal/ Passionate Learning Network (PLN)."

A Professional Learning Community (PLC) is defined as a school in which the professionals (administrators and teachers) continuously seek and share learning to increase their effectiveness for students, and act on what they learn

This list was set up in response to requests for help in finding social networks aimed at learning professionals. The list contains a mix of networks for both educators and workplace learning professionals. Use the list to find one or two relevant networks to join.

An example of flipping and gamifying PD in Wissahickon School District with step-by-step directions and tips.

FlippedPD is a modern approach to professional development. It is a way to maximize and respect teachers' time for professional learning. FlippedPD was developed specifically to meet the instructional and technology integration needs of classroom teachers and is based on a blended learning model that combines personalized and on-demand digital resources with face-to-face coaching support for technology integration to meet instructional goals.

The online workplace of an international community of education professionals. K-12 teachers, librarians, administrators, and professional development staff, as well as university faculty, students, and researchers gather here to learn, collaborate, share, and support one another.

Scribus is an open-source program that brings award-winning professional page layout to Linux/Unix, MacOS X, OS/2 and Windows desktops with a combination of "press-ready" output and new approaches to page layout. Underneath the modern and user friendly interface, Scribus supports professional publishing features, such as CMYK color, separations, ICC color management and versatile PDF creation.

"About Our Motivation: Challenges and opportunities, created by our global society, invite teachers, administrators, and students to rethink the way they teach, lead, and learn. The rise of social networking, the ease with which information is shared, and the growth of our global economy are just a few factors that have made it obvious that the 21st century is a much different world than the 20th century. And yet, when we take a good, hard look at the culture within our schools, do we see that much has changed from yesterday to today? We may see more technology used in the classroom and maybe more discussions on the "content vs. skills" debate in the faculty rooms. But underneath it all, have things really changed? Have we successfully forged a culture where life-long learning, personal growth, and collaboration are valued and practiced among all members of the school community? In Richard DuFour's article "Why Look Elsewhere?: Improving Schools from Within," he states that "it is context-the beliefs, expectations, behaviors and norms that constitute the culture of a given school-that plays the largest role in deciding whether a professional development program will make a difference in that school." If a school's goal is to improve student achievement, and a school considers learning to be the crux of its community, then effective professional development-where teachers and administrators themselves become learners-is the bridge to achieving that goal."

So where do you start learning how to integrate technology into your classroom as well as how to use it for your ongoing professional development? And how do you stay current with the almost daily changes in the technology landscape? To find answers both general and specific, I talked to three strong advocates for incorporating technology into the learning process: Darren Draper, director of technology services for the Canyons School District, in Cottonwood Heights, Utah; Louise Maine, a science teacher at Punxsutawney Area High School, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania; and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, a digital-learning consultant and a cofounder of Powerful Learning Practice, a professional-development company that aids educators in adopting 21st-century teaching and learning practices.

25 Tools : A Toolbox for Learning Professionals 2009 version This is the 2009 version of this popular resource. The 2009 Toolbox contains 25 categories of learning tool. Within each tool category are the names of the most popular tools from the emerging 2009 Top Tools for Learning, as selected by learning professionals worldwide. The majority of tools in the Toolbox are FREE tools, although a number of commercial tools are included. Some of the tools are desktop tools; others are online services.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 As at 23 July 2009 151 Learning Professionals have shared their Top 10 Tools This is the 3rd year we have invited learning professionals from all over the world to share their top 10 tools for learning to help build the annual Top 100 Tools for Learning. Here's the emerging the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009 list, where you can compare the rankings of the tools with the last two years. Note, by "learning" we mean both formal and informal learning (This list was used to produce the 25 Tools: A Toolbox 2009)

Get It Clean is one of the leading restoration companies in Windsor. Speak to our certified staff for professional cleaning services in Windsor. Browse our website to check out our packages and choose the best that suits your budget and requirements.

An overview of the Edutopia professional development guide for integrating technology tools in the classroom.

Flipped learning offers the same potential for professional learning as it does for our students. It offers unique visibility on the learning process and learner progress, allowing just in time analysis of learners' needs, along with contextually appropriate analysis of what moves learning forward most effectively, allowing adaptation and refinement of planning.