PD 360 is an online library of educational professional development video programs broken into segments. The product was developed by the School Improvement Network. The segments are topical based with classroom examples featuring various educational experts. PD 360 has increased student achievement in schools in North America.
Contents
Basic Operation
PD 360 is an on-demand professional learning system for teachers and educators, with a series of tools built around a library of video segments. The video segments are streamed to the end user in the Flash Video format (FLV), using progressive streaming technology. The videos focus on pedagogical topics such as differentiated instruction, English language learners (ELL), instructional strategies, classroom management, and many others. As a user watches a video, the user can answer related reflection questions about that video—which questions help the user focus on how to implement what is learned in the classroom. The user can also go to related discussion forums and pull up a related facilitator guide. PD 360 is built in Flex, as a Flash application, so Flash is required for its operation. The application is hosted by School Improvement Network, but the video content can either be hosted by a school or district, or be accessed through the Internet. The video is distributed through hundreds of data centers around the world through a CDN (Content Distribution Network). The CDN is currently Level 3.
Observation 360 is a sister product to PD 360 that allows principals and other instructional leaders to do an observation or walkthrough of a teacher using an iPad or iPod Touch. Observation 360 is linked to PD 360, so that as teachers get the results of their observation, they also get prescriptive guidance on what learning segments they should use in PD 360—based on the results of the observation.
History
PD 360 version 1 was released in June 2007, following a beta that had been released in November 2006. Version 1 contained basic viewing and searching capability. Version 2 released in November 2007 and added the capability to customize content a viewer sees based on the specific needs of a district. Version 3 released in November 2008 and added reporting capability so that customers could track and see usage. Version 4 released in summer of 2009 and added a learning community, with forums and file sharing between users. Version 3.5 released in November 2009 and added the ability to have colleagues, create membership-based groups, and launched a beta of the achievements program—whereby users can get points for various things accomplished in PD 360. Version 4 will release in November 2010. Details about version 4 have not been released. PD 360 has grown to over 650,000 users, over 17,000 schools, and over 2,000 districts—with districts in all 50 states and every province of Canada.
Awards
2010 Bronze Telly Award for online video production: High School
2009 Adobe Max Award winner in education: PD 360
2009 Codie Award finalist in the category of Best Professional Development Solution: PD 360
2009 Scholastic Best in Tech Award: PD 360