5 Sources of Free Inclusion-Focused PD for Back-to-School Inspiration

A new school year is upon us, and bidding carefree summer days farewell is not always the easiest.

How about some inclusion-focused PD to ease in?

Earn those PDHs and CEs when you take to the world wide web for some free professional development opportunities to start your year off right.

Cozy up with some popcorn for a late-night rerun of Using Stories as the On-Ramp for Students’ Social and Emotional Development.

Grab your work bestie to watch Teacher as Investigator: Developing Awareness of Student Strengths and Needs.

Or expand your horizons with a self-paced course on Diversity and Inclusion from the University of Glasgow.

Whatever your inclusive education topic of choice, the following five sources most likely have you covered.

Canvas

Learning Management System (LMS) by day… Network for educators… also by day.
The Canvas Network, powered by the Canvas LMS, is “an open space for educators to share, experiment, analyze, and create.”
Canvas hosts webinars from a wide variety of organizations, including colleges and universities. Some examples of topics include:

• Teacher as Investigator: Developing Awareness of Student Strengths and Needs from Understood.org
• IEPs from A to Z: Understanding Individualized Education Programs, also from Understood.org
• Safe & Resilient Schools: Mental Health from the University of Colorado Boulder

EdWeb

According to their website, EdWeb is “a free social network and
professional learning community” for people who work in education.

EdWeb has lots of different options for live professional development webinars, or you can access their archives for even more.

Timely topics include:

• Teacher Turnover and the Future of Literacy: How to Hold On
• Supporting Teachers: Strategies to Bring Joy Back Into the Classroom
• Using Stories as the On-Ramp for Students’ Social and Emotional Development

Don Johnston Webinars

Not to brag or anything, but Don Johnston webinars are kind of a big deal. (Jokes, we make jokes.)
But in all seriousness, we are super passionate about bringing in experts who provide valuable information and helpful strategies our audience can put to use right away.
Our motivation? Students of all kinds get what they need to learn.
Some of our favorite recent webinars have been:

• Dysgraphia and Writing Challenges: Powerful Approaches that Improve Written Communication
• One Person at a Time to Universal Design: First Steps & the Path Ahead
• Maximizing Chromebooks for Students with Dyslexia / Dysgraphia

Keep an eye out for our upcoming Back-to-School Conference with Texthelp centering on Universal Design for Learning!

Coursera

Coursera partners with companies and universities all over the world to offer free education and training opportunities to its users.

Cousera’s education-related opportunities are many, but options include:

• Diversity and Inclusion in Education from the University of Glasgow
• Motivating Gen Z Learners: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore
• Providing Social, Emotional, Behavioral, and Special Education Services in School from the University of Colorado System

EducationWeek 

Did you know that the popular source for education news also hosts free and premium PD webinars? |
Offerings include topics like:

• A Roadmap to Multisensory Early Literacy Instruction: Accelerate Growth for All Students
• When SEL Curriculum Is Not Enough: Integrating Social-Emotional Behavior Supports in MTSS
• The Science of Reading and Multilingual Learners: What Educators Need to Know

We hope this list has been useful to you. And we’re wishing you the best school year yet!