Professional Development for Groups

The goal of Frontline Academics is to assess where teaching and learning rhythms are now and to determine what changes will need to be made before they need to be made. While our educational philosophy does use best practices to understand the current educational landscape, it is not limited by what has worked in the past. Many times, educational institutions are either trying to stay on the “cutting edge” of pedagogy or are woefully behind the curve. Our objective is to avoid either extreme. Why? Because employing a new technology or teaching style too early can alienate your students and/or fellow faculty. Often, these approaches lack the proper support and longevity needed to avoid losing money and time already scarce in education. Similarly, we must avoid sticking with a “tried and true” approach for too long. While time-tested technology and pedagogy are reliable, they often fain compared to what today’s students have in their pockets. Phones, tablets, and laptops are evolving quicker than we can keep track of and education needs to be pacing itself at a healthy but sustainable distance. This will require a commitment to improvement and a steady hand of patience from faculty and leadership.

Frontline Academics’ Professional Development program focuses on engagement, excitement, and encouragement. That is because authors like Stephen Krashen write that students suffer from the effects of three primary “filters” that limit their ability to learn well: anxiety, motivation, and self-confidence. When the student is adequately engaged with the material, their anxiety is reduced. Also, most learners feel increasingly motivated when they are excited to learn. And finally, self-confidence is best developed through encouragement. These three learning barriers may be evident to the seasoned teacher, but many of us were not trained to identify such markers. Our program offers several methods of improving your in-class techniques that will benefit your students in countless ways. We also provide training for online course design and distance learning philosophies to enhance the teaching and learning experience. We must be striving to advance our understanding of technology and the ever-changing learning developments that come with it.