8 Benefits of Learning Online
1. Save Time
Scheduling and implementing online learning is much less time-consuming than planning and running inservice days and staff meetings.
2. Save Money
Eliminate travel expenses, registration costs, consultant fees, and other expenses associated with seminars and on-site meetings. And online learning can save school districts the expense of hiring substitute teachers.
3. Get CEU and College Credit
Online learning opportunities offer a way to earn professional development clock hours, which can be applied toward CEU or college credit.
4. Add Flexibility
You can access online learning opportunities anytime, any place you have access to the Internet, from the comfort of your own home and even during summer and holiday breaks.
5. Increase Accountability
Online learning can be even more accountable than traditional professional development because assignments, assessment scores, activities, course completions, and participant progress can be monitored online.
6. Bring Education Theory to Life
When online learning experiences take full advantage of the interactivity and multimedia power of the Internet, they can engage you with videotaped classroom scenes, interviews, and online demonstrations of concepts. This wide variety of activity and question formats offers a more valuable learning experience than a typical workshop or textbook-based courses.
7. Promote Transference of Learning to the Workplace
Instead of one-shot workshops, you can use the flexibility and lower costs of online learning to follow-up on learning activities with support that leads to implementation of new practices.
8. Create Excitement About Learning
The interactivity and multimedia delivery of online professional development makes learning more engaging and fun!
Why Choose ASCD for Online Learning?
As a membership organization of, by, and for educators, ASCD listens to educators around the world. We find out what's working in schools and classrooms, then we create powerful professional resources that help implement those ideas—in a single classroom or systemwide.
That's what makes us the leading source of professional development in K–12 education. A national survey from an independent research firm found that more educators name ASCD as the "industry leader" in providing programs and services for K–12 professional development compared to any other organization.
Our approach to online learning divides the professional development experience into four levels of learner needs:
- Level 1: Raising awareness and introducing new ideas.
- Level 2: Supporting new skills.
- Level 3: Making refinements and adjustments to fit a context.
- Level 4: Maintaining and institutionalizing behaviors systemwide.
This differentiated approach to professional development is much more apt to ensure your online learning experience is a success—whether your goal is self-help or systemic improvement.