Friday, March 13, 2020, was a professional learning day for many school districts in Connecticut. The timing was fortuitous because it gave educators a chance to make plans for the coming weeks. In the previous few days, they had learned that schools were going to be closed for a couple of weeks due to the rising threat from the pandemic that…

In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist with Becoming a Better Distance Learning Instructor. Sull notes, as each new year taps distance learning instructors on the shoulders they look to improve, to be the best they can be as distance educators. There…

In this "Distance Learning" Special Issue, Errol Craig Sull introduces the "Try This" series of articles to assist with Becoming a Better Distance Learning Instructor. Sull notes, the basics of how to be a solid distance educator are well known: constant presence in the classroom, quick turnaround of student e-mails and…

This article provides a summary of the steps that were taken to launch a new center for teaching and learning (CTL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of these steps explain how the inaugural director leveraged the pivot to emergency remote teaching to capitalize on faculty interest for educational development and increase collaboration…

COVID-19 has thrust educators into a period of uncertainty, complicating conventional ways of teaching and learning. We suspect that the pandemic has magnified the challenges that some high school teachers already experience, particularly when they are the sole chemistry teacher at their school. The pandemic has likely inhibited collegial…

The Cybersecurity Ambassador Program provides professional skills training for emerging cybersecurity professionals remotely. The goal is to reach out to underrepresented populations who may use Federal Work-Study (FWS) or grant sponsored internships to participate. Cybersecurity Ambassadors (CAs) develop skills that will serve them well as…

Higher Education plays a decisive role in the training of competent professionals and active, responsible and critical-thinking citizens. In addition to acquiring rigorous technical-scientific knowledge specific to their degree, students are also expected to develop a range of transversal skills essential for a successful academic and professional…

This article emphasizes the need for adult educators to adapt to the constantly evolving digital landscape. Traditional methods of professional development (PD) no longer suffice, so PD courses should strive to foster a lifelong learning mindset and encourage a culture of experimentation. The article outlines three strategies for creating an…

In response to national concerns a decade ago, driven by research that showed that higher education was making little impact on students' development of broad competencies and critical thinking, the provost and president of Purdue University, a research university, instituted a program whose goals were to build on the accumulated knowledge on…

Türkiye with its multifaceted soft power, it aspires to strengthen its influence throughout the surrounding countries of the Arabian Gulf. Türkiye is applying the maximum prominent cultural and educational diplomatic strategies for boosting knowledge and cooperation to preserve its impact inside the Gulf location. By establishing the Yunus Emre…

At the start of the 2020-21 school year, six months after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the lives of everyone, the author and the other instructional coaches in her district were temporarily reassigned to virtual teaching positions. In this article, the author shares what she learned about the kinds of support teachers need and how…

"Work-based learning experiences" is a broad term applying to an array of in-school or after-school learning opportunities, from career awareness, exploration, development, and application. Through WBLEs, students will learn about work, gain employability skills, and connect their school experiences to real work settings. WBLEs can also…

Using the Teach to Lead process and drawing on their own study of how teachers can lift their social-emotional skills, three elementary teachers in Connecticut created a plan to work with fellow teachers to increase everyone's camaraderie and regularly problem solve together. When their school closed to in-place learning, they pivoted to find ways…

Special educators must be prepared to meet the diverse needs of their students, yet they have few opportunities to collaborate with others in similar roles or receive targeted professional development. Therefore, practices that intentionally sustain special educators are needed. Such experiences have existed in the professional development world…

This article reviews the strategies discussed in this special issue using the framing of knowledge synergies for effective online facilitation. Guidance and resources for continuous professional improvement through self and peer assessment, creating spaces for professional learning, and managing workload are explored.