iNACOL and The Learning Accelerator Release a Teacher Competency Framework for Blended Learning

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- As schools and districts transition to new learning models using online and blended environments, they are asking for assistance in understanding teachers' new roles and effectively supporting them in transitioning to new models of teaching and learning. To respond to this need, The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) and The Learning Accelerator (TLA) today released the iNACOL Blended Learning Teacher Competency Framework (http://bit.ly/inacolbtc). This report is the result of an intensive, year-long exploration by a national committee of blended learning practitioners, thought-leaders, and experts assembled to explore one critical question: What are the key competencies of teachers in successful blended learning environments?

"We have witnessed strong growth of blended learning models to improve the educational experiences of students," said Allison Powell, iNACOL's Vice President for New Learning Models. "This framework explores the competencies and effective practices needed to make new instructional methods successful."

Over the past year, this national committee, including the Framework's co-authors, Allison Powell of iNACOL, Beth Rabbitt of TLA, and Kathryn Kennedy of MVU's Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute (MVLRI), worked together to review existing practices and research to develop emerging hypotheses with each other and then field-test them with a broader set of stakeholders. The culmination of this work identifies 12 specific competencies organized under four key areas, including Mindsets, Qualities, Adaptive Skills, and Technical Skills.

"We believe this framework offers a clear but flexible starting point for the field in understanding evolving educator roles and practice," said Beth Rabbitt, Partner at TLA. "We hope that it will be helpful for a variety of actors to develop and organize resources that will help teachers learn and grow as blended educators."

Due to the ever-changing nature of blended learning, these competencies were developed with the expectation that they would change over time. As educators innovate in their schools and technologists contribute new tools for use, new models of teaching and learning will continue to emerge. These new approaches will continue to push our collective thinking about what teachers will need to know and do in order to make the most of the opportunities ahead.

"The key foundation to these competencies was the working group's collective belief that teachers can be and are agents of learning and innovation in their communities," said Kathryn Kennedy, Senior Researcher at MVU's MVLRI. "These competencies draw directly from promising practices and resources from our expert committee members and their organizations who are on the ground doing the work within the community."

To download a copy of the iNACOL Blended Learning Teacher Competency Framework, please visit http://bit.ly/inacolbtc.

About iNACOL

The mission of the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) is to ensure all students have access to a world-class education and quality blended and online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success. iNACOL is a non-profit organization focused on research; developing policy for student-centered education to ensure equity and access; developing quality standards for emerging learning models using online, blended, and competency-based education; and supporting the ongoing professional development of classroom, school, district and state leaders for new learning models. Learn more at http://www.inacol.org.

SOURCE International Association for K-12 Online Learning