Blended learning continues to evolve, and today’s educators need to stay up-to-date on the latest best practices. Sometimes, getting access to the right resources or training can be expensive and time-consuming.
Digital learning leaders, Virtual Virginia and VSTE, want to help everyone keep learning by keeping blended learning best practices as accessible as possible. Together, they are offering their 4th annual virtual conference, Blueprints for Better Blending, on February 17th, 2024.
This free online conference will bring together educators passionate about blended learning through interactive sessions, new Edtech tools and strategies, and best practices from their colleagues across the Commonwealth of Virginia. After all, the best professional learning is teacher-approved. Join hundreds of fellow educators to recharge your blended approach at this year’s event!
Over the past three years, this annual conference has attracted more than 4,000 registrants eager to share resources and connect on everything from taking full advantage of Canvas LMS to fostering healthy community engagement, scaffolding blended learning strategies, and more! Dive into more of the highlights from last year’s event.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what a couple of our educators had to say:
“Thank you. I enjoyed the conference. It was amazing!” - Wendy Morgan, Gifted Resource Teacher at Newport News Public Schools
"Thank you so much. Please know how appreciated your resources are! My colleague and I have spent a lot of time in Virtual Virginia Professional Learning, watching videos to help us better train our staff. They have given us so much context for using Canvas features that we would not have otherwise had, so thank you!— Jennifer L. Leary, Instructional Technology Specialist at Virginia Beach City Public Schools
The Virtual Value of Accessible Professional Learning
In today’s classrooms, digital fatigue is a common experience for many educators. Paired with the widespread burnout many educators experience, staying on the path to innovative technology in the classroom can feel overwhelming.
Research has suggested a way to respond to burnout by dialing up meaningful professional learning efforts. Connecting with like-minded educators creates energy and excitement around what’s possible.
With educators in mind, Virtual Virginia and VSTE have crafted solutions-forward sessions to tackle common challenges educators face with blended learning, such as:
- Getting student buy-in for the remote portions of blended learning
- Lack of training on effective blended instructional strategies
- Finding high-quality digital content aligned with the curriculum
- Building classroom community across in-person and remote students
- Addressing equity challenges for blended environments
- Lacking data to identify struggling students in a blended context
The hope is that educators will walk away feeling reinvigorated about blended learning through panel discussions, virtual networking, and breakout sessions.
It’s also a chance to showcase excellent work across school districts that deserves a broader spotlight. Past conferences have elevated innovative blended approaches from all corners of the Commonwealth (and beyond!).
2024 Blended Learning Conference Details: Everything You Need to Know
This year’s full-day online event will let you dive into sessions on personalized pathways, collaborative learning, family engagement, and more high-interest topics relevant to today’s blended environments.
With subject matter tailored to various roles, there’s something for teachers, instructional coaches, school leaders, and anyone invested in improving blended instruction. At this year's conference, discover fresh ideas and blueprints for taking your instructional blending skills to the next level.
Reserve your spot today through VVA’s Professional Learning Catalog. (Pro tip: Completing this conference counts as 5 hours of professional learning for educators from Virginia.)
Agenda
Here’s how the day will go on February 17th:
- 9:30 a.m. — Login & Greetings
- 10 a.m. — Breakout Session 1
- 11 a.m. — Breakout Session 2
- 12 p.m. — Breakout Session 3
- 1 p.m. — Breakout Session 4
- 2 p.m. — Conference Concludes
With four diverse session blocks, you’ll discover fresh blended learning insights all day.
Can’t make the full day? Pick a few targeted sessions to get focused insights. After the event, you’ll even receive access to the recordings to keep revisiting all the sessions and key takeaways at your convenience.
Better Blended Learning for All: Three Standout Sessions
Sessions span relevant topics like addressing learning loss, instructional coaching, community engagement, and building critical thinking skills.
Here are some of the standout sessions you won’t want to miss.
The Pac-Man Blueprint: Enhancing Blended Learning with Power Pellets of Productivity
Katie Fielding, STEM Coach
Prince William County Schools, Virginia
In every classroom–even the ones with the most inspiring lessons–some students struggle with self-regulation. Just like Pac-Man navigates through his maze, we'll discuss strategies to help students navigate through the maze of coursework, exams, and projects by explicitly teaching “power pellet” strategies like time management, stress management, and effective study techniques to outwit the ghosts of procrastination and disorganization.
Let's Build a World!
Yolanda Montague, Elementary Technology Teacher
Staunton City Public Schools, Virginia
Have you thought about including technology into your curriculum in a way that helps with student learning and doesn’t become one more thing to master? Join me as I show you how to use CAD programs with learners as early as kindergarten! I will walk you through easy-to-use, interactive, and intuitive programs that will not only keep your students engaged but will also be something that can be used repeatedly. The possibilities are limitless but also achievable.
Canvas for Littles!
Suzy Lolley, Instructional Technology Coach
Paulding County School District, Georgia
Do you feel like your primary-grade students are at a disadvantage when it comes to technology? Maybe you know that Canvas is great, but your kids can't use it...or can they? In this session, learn practical advice for making sure your learners can run with the big kids and access the same LMS, all in ways that work for littles.
And the blended learning goodness doesn’t stop there! Check out the complete list of presentation topics below.
- Blended Learning: General Strategies/All Models
- Canvas for Littles
- Collaborative Learning/Student Collaboration
- Critical Thinking Skills
- Edtech Tool Showcase
- Family/Community Engagement
- Gamification
- Instructional Coaching/Mentoring
- Personalized Learning Pathways/Differentiated Instruction
- Professional Learning
- Project-Based Learning
- Student Engagement Strategies
- Student Voice and Choice
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Better Together: We Can’t Wait to See You There
Learning (virtually) together is an opportunity to elevate student learning.
Our very own Chief Academic Officer, Melissa Loble, is excited to welcome educators to the conference and present on LMS innovation.
We can’t wait to connect and take blended learning to the next level together. If you have further questions, contact VVA’s Professional Learning Coordinator, Steven Sproles, at steven.sproles@virtualva.org.
We hope to see you online on February 17th!
