This September SOESD lanched webPD, an online platform that gives Southern Oregon educators a convenient, flexible way to partake in professional development courses, engage with fellow educators within learning cohorts, and earn the professional development units (PDUs) required to maintain their teaching licenses.
webPD is the brainchild of Director of School Improvement, Dr.Mark Angle-Hobson. The platform was developed in support of the Southern Oregon Regional Educator Network’s tenets (equity, teacher voice, learner relevance and accessibility for ALL educators), and the challenges educators face when attempting to achieve their personal educational goals. “Teachers lead busy lives. They’re in the classroom before school begins preparing lessons; they spend the school day delivering lessons and tending to student needs; after school, they spend hours grading papers and caring for their families at home. Even in the calmest of times, it’s difficult for educators to attend conferences and workshops. Then you throw in a pandemic and natural disaster or two…Self-paced, online courses with a minimal time commitment make sense,” says Angle-Hobson.
webPD will roll out over three years. In its first year, webPD will offer five, five-week courses developed around themes based upon district priorities: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) 101, Trauma Informed 101, Equity 101, Social Emotional Learning 101 and Universal Design for Learning 101. Year two will include the 101 courses with the addition of five intermediate (201) courses; year three will offer the 101 and 201 classes as well as five advanced (301) courses. Registration for ACEs 101 is now open.
Angle-Hobson pointed out, “By the end of year three, educators can earn all the PDUs they need to renew their teaching license through webPD. What’s more, SOESD is offering free enrollment to its 13 component districts during year one.”