Professional development is an essential strategy for keeping pace with the growing and changing demands of any workplace. Online professional development has been heralded for its potential to make a broad and accessible impact on training needs.

But, does it work?

Twin Cities Public Television recently brought its multi-media expertise and ability to engage audiences to two projects that test and take advantage of online professional development's potential.

A foray into professional development for teachers is a natural evolution of tpt's long-standing commitment as a partner in education. Teachers and school districts, in particular, face the need for continuous improvement and learning so that they can adopt best practices, expand their own knowledge and skills, and raise their student's achievement.

In the Ready to Teach: Teaching Fractions initiative tpt partnered with Rational Numbers Project fellow, Dr. Kathleen Cramer at the University of Minnesota, to train educators in proven strategies for teaching fractions while measuring the effectiveness of media-rich online teacher professional development. In the process, we learned a great deal about the ingredients that are essential to online professional development's success.

Find out more about the Ready to Teach: Teaching Fractions project and its findings.

In another project, tpt teamed up with PBS, its member stations, and a variety of educational partners to offer PBS Teacherline, an online professional development service for teachers. PBS Teacherline now includes a catalogue over 90 that meet No Child Left Behind requirements for high-quality professional development aligned with state and national standards.  PBS Teacherline offers a customizable economical approach to building individual or district-wide professional development.

Find out more about PBS Teacherline of Minnesota and the Dakotas.