PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- BloomBoard, the leading professional development platform for empowering educator growth, and Digital Promise, a nonprofit organization dedicated to accelerating innovation in education, today launched a micro-credential system for educators. Micro-credentials are an emerging tool for professional development that recognizes educators' accomplishments throughout their careers, empowers them to drive their own professional development and satisfies their love of learning.
Digital Promise's report, "Making Professional Learning Count: Recognizing Educators' Skills with Micro-credentials," highlights the demand for personalized learning for educators. The report captured feedback from a nationally representative sample of educators on professional development and micro-credentials and found that nearly 70 percent of educators seek out both formal and informal professional learning activities to become better teachers. Notably, 40 percent of educators are particularly interested in informal learning opportunities because they are tailored to their specific interests.
The micro-credential platform, a new offering from BloomBoard, provides educators the ability to personalize their learning by exploring and applying for more than 100 micro-credentials sourced and curated by Digital Promise.
"Teachers develop skills throughout the course of their careers and micro-credentials are a way to both support and strengthen professional practice," said Karen Cator, president and CEO of Digital Promise. "We are thrilled to work with BloomBoard to make this concept a reality."
As a competency-based ecosystem, micro-credentials allow educators to demonstrate their ability to apply their learning in their practice, either inside or outside the classroom. To earn a micro-credential, educators select the specific competency they wish to develop, submit evidence of their competence, and receive recognition in the form of a digital badge.
The ecosystem also leverages the BloomBoard professional development Marketplace, where more than 100,000 teachers currently access a comprehensive library of professional development resources personalized to their needs and learning goals.
"We're always looking for new ways to support personal learning and professional growth for teachers," said Jason Lange, CEO and co-founder of BloomBoard. "We're excited to collaborate with Digital Promise to provide a clear pathway for personalized professional learning that meets the needs, goals, and interests of every educator."
The inaugural set of micro-credentials includes topics like Deeper Learning, Data Literacy, and Teacher Leadership, created by content experts including Relay Graduate School of Education, Center for Teaching Quality, and the University of San Diego's Mobile Technology Learning Center.
Digital Promise will continue to expand the micro-credential offerings to include more competencies that are important for educators' everyday practice with partners that will enrich the system. To explore the new micro-credential ecosystem, please visit bloomboard.com/digitalpromise. To learn more about micro-credentials, visit digitalpromise.org/microcredentials.
ABOUT BLOOMBOARD
BloomBoard connects teachers with high-quality resources to achieve their professional learning goals. Educators have convenient, on-demand access to its comprehensive Marketplace — where they can find valuable content, including videos, webinars, courses, and e-books from the most trusted providers in the education space. Through BloomBoard's cost-effective procurement process, school and district administrators can track and measure teacher growth, identify where professional development dollars are being spent, and make more informed decisions that impact growth and instruction. For more information, visit the BloomBoard website and follow @bloomboard for updates.
ABOUT DIGITAL PROMISE
Digital Promise is a nonprofit organization authorized by Congress to spur innovation in education to improve the opportunity to learn for all Americans. Through its work with educators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and leading thinkers, Digital Promise supports a comprehensive agenda to benefit lifelong learning and provide Americans with the knowledge and skills needed to compete in the global economy. For more information, visit the Digital Promise website and follow @digitalpromise for updates.
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Contact:
BloomBoard: Alicia Barnes, Content Marketing Manager, [email protected], 724-761-2865.
Digital Promise: Erica Lawton, Communications Manager, [email protected], 508-962-7310.
SOURCE BloomBoard; Digital Promise
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