Free Professional Development for Teachers Will Pay Dividends during and after the Pandemic

As the nation approaches the one-year mark of COVID it’s important to reflect back on all that’s been achieved despite enduring a year defined by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Few groups were more affected by the pandemic than public school teachers. Last Spring, when classes suddenly went remote and playgrounds across the nation went quiet, ASU Prep Digital gathered a group of education leaders together to understand how best to support teachers navigating this uncertain future. From this meeting, the Arizona Virtual Teacher Institute (AZVTI) was born.

The free trainings offered through AZVTI were designed to help Arizona teachers not only survive but thrive in adopting new digital, blended, hybrid, and tech-rich instructional practices. The training is provided at no cost to schools or teachers through the generous investment of the Arizona Department of Education, the Governor’s Office, Helios Education Foundation, and Arizona State University.

During the two weeks of Arizona’s spring break, March 9-11 and March 16-18, AZVTI will be conducting two professional development bootcamps for educators focused on blended learning models and educational technology. Additional bootcamps will be available during Summer 2021 and trainings continue to be available to all interested teachers at the times that work best for them.

Over the last year nearly 8,000 Arizona teachers have participated in the institute, representing 367 districts and more than 1,000 schools across the state. AZVTI offers 400 separate trainings aimed at not only bridging the divide created by remote learning but empowering teachers with tools that will have application long beyond the pandemic. The resources offered through AZVTI have been readily adopted by the community, particularly smaller and more rural districts who may lack the technical resources to set up their own digital toolkits for educators.

“Arizona is home to over 47,000 public school teachers and AZVTI has already touched 8,000 of them,” said Julie Young, managing director of ASU Prep and ASU Prep Digital. “We’ve interfaced with nearly half of the state’s public schools and our mission is to ensure that every single teacher in need of resources has free access to them.”

Regardless of where COVID may go, asynchronous learning is here to stay. The resources offered through AZVTI will pay dividends for all teachers as the classroom model continues to rapidly change. For more information, visit: asuprepdigital.org/training.

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.