Kane County ROE partners with Pennsylvania agency to offer new professional learning catalog
The Kane County Regional Office of Education recently announced the launch of P.L.A.Y. (Professional Learning and You), a new professional development catalog through the Illinois Online Academy.
P.L.A.Y. is an interactive and dynamic educational platform designed to provide a unique learning experience for educational staff.
Teachers in Illinois are required to hold a professional educator license and renew it every five years. During that five-year period, they must complete 120 hours of professional development approved by the state.
P.L.A.Y offers users freedom of choice to select the subject matter that aligns with their career goals as they earn professional development hours.
The P.L.A.Y. catalog greatly expands the amount of offerings for teachers from the Kane County ROE, with subjects including artificial intelligence, social emotional learning, working with English Language Learners, curriculum, Google Workspace, and others.
Users can access the entire library of activities and subjects for $10 per month with a one-year commitment, with all offerings being exclusively online and can be completed in any time frame.
“The benefit of P.L.A.Y. is that it embraces microlearning. We want to empower educators by making it possible for them to learn what aligns with their professional goals, on their time, while having fun,” said Kane County Regional Superintendent Patricia Dal Santo. “Some activities through this platform can be completed in as little as five minutes. That, and the freedom of choice, are the features we seek out in order to provide the most engaging professional learning options.”
P.L.A.Y. also utilizes an online video game structure, showing stats for users through its dashboard. Participants can collect badges, unlock achievements, and compete with colleagues as they complete activities and earn professional development hours.
The launch of P.L.A.Y. is made possible through a partnership agreement with Westmoreland Intermediate Unit 7, a regional education services agency in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.
“This is truly a unique experience for any educational staff member that is looking for professional development, and we believe that extends beyond Kane County. Our Professional Learning team is passionate about this partnership, and we are proud to be able to offer it to all educators.”
Interested staff members can learn more about the platform and register at kaneroe.org/play.