Free Professional Development Opportunities

In my state we have to acquire a large number of professional development points every five years. Although school districts do offer some free training, much of the time it is not appropriate for special educators. I have located a free, online professional development courses appropriate for teachers of learner with special needs.

As part of the Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative stemming from the No Child Left Behind Act a free series of online courses are available called eLearning Workshops. Originally presented as face-to-face workshops through the program, the sessions were taped, divided into segments and interspersed with learning activities. Each course is about two hours long, including the activities. Forty-nine states accept these online courses to meet professional development requirements. A number of the courses are appropriate for special needs teachers. Upon enrolling in the program you create a ePortfolio that tracks all the courses you take.