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Blended PD Emphasizes Differentiated Instruction

Educators say a hybrid approach to training will help teachers differentiate instruction

By Robin Flanigan

Officials in the 24,100- student Academy School District 20 school system in Colorado Springs, Colo., came to this conclusion in the spring of 2011: If blended learning is one of the biggest trends in education, it should offer a way for teachers to practice the approach themselves.

Using federal Title II, Part A funds, the district offered a professional-development course that combined four online modules, including Moodle , which took teachers through a series of online tutorials and face-to-face activities over six months in 2011-12. It then expanded the blended learning model to many of its 2012 summer institute courses for teachers, and has begun offering a round of professional development to another batch of teachers—31, roughly the size of the waiting list—in 2012-13.

"The training put us in touch with what our students go through," said Wanda Lepillez, a 4th grade teacher at the 568-student Academy International Elementary School, who took part in the inaugural training. "It has...