Participate

Participate offers pre-service and in-service teachers with grade-band specific professional development focused on the integration of global concepts within the curriculum. The platform integrates professional development modules, a robust online community and curricular resources to support teachers in their integration of global concepts across subject areas. 

Educators 
learn strategies for transforming teaching practices and impacting student learning by implementing ready-to-use lessons and developing their own as they progress through professional development modules. Teachers can collaborate and share evidence of their learning in a trusted online community, earn and collect digital badges in living portfolios and work toward global-ready teacher designation. 

All participant-created content is standards-aligned and rooted in global project-based inquiry. Upon completion of each professional development module, teachers are awarded hours that may be used toward license renewal credits. 

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Features

• 50 globally themed professional learning modules
• Appropriate for pre- or in-service K-12 educators across subject areas 
• Inquiry-based instructional practices
• Online community for collaboration and ongoing support embedded in each module
• Licensure credit options available

Seal of Alignment Review

The Participate professional development courses successfully underwent the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Seal of Alignment review for Proficiency. Reviewers determined that this resource provides substantial opportunities for participating teachers to practice the skills and knowledge necessary to meet the ISTE Standards for Educators. With 50 project-based learning modules, participating teachers learn about how to integrate global concepts within their curriculum and various tools for enhancing student learning in a global context. With technology as a common thread throughout the entire program, teachers apply digital tools in their own learning and as well as how to effectively use digital tools to support student learning in an integrated way.

“Participate does an extraordinary job of addressing the difficult task of helping teachers understand and develop cultural literacy and competency throughout the curriculum” 

— ISTE Review Report

Participate professional development courses were found to support implementation of the following ISTE Standards for Educators:

1. Learner

1.a. Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.

1.b. Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks.

1.c. Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.

2.Leader

2.c. Model for colleagues the identification, exploration, evaluation, curation and adoption of new digital resources and tools for learning.

3. Citizen

3.a. Create experiences for learners to make positive, socially responsible contributions and exhibit empathetic behavior online that build relationships and community.

3.b. Establish a learning culture that promotes curiosity and critical examination of online resources and fosters digital literacy and media fluency.

4.Collaborator

4.a. Dedicate planning time to collaborate with colleagues to create authentic learning experiences that leverage technology.

4.b. Collaborate and co-learn with students to discover and use new digital resources and diagnose and troubleshoot technology issues.

4.c. Use collaborative tools to expand students' authentic, real-world learning experiences by engaging virtually with experts, teams and students, locally and globally.

4.d.  Demonstrate cultural competency when communicating with students, parents and colleagues and interact with them as co-collaborators in student learning.

5. Designer

5.a. Use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs.

5.b. Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning.

6. Facilitator

6.a. Foster a culture where students take ownership of their learning goals and outcomes in both independent and group settings.

6.c. Create learning opportunities that challenge students to use a design process and computational thinking to innovate and solve problems.

7. Analyst

7.b. Use technology to design and implement a variety of formative and summative assessments that accommodate learner needs, provide timely feedback to students and inform instruction.