How Model Teaching Seamlessly Trains K-12 Teachers & Schools Online

Below you can follow along with a conversation we had with Adam Pond, the Co-Founder and Director of Model Teaching.

Moving Professional Development Training Online

Model Teaching started offering professional development to teachers and schools all the way back in 2003, with their parent company, Action Potential Learning. After spending years hiring tutors, training teachers, and doing on-campus training, they decided to move their training materials online. That way, they could scale their revenue without having to expand physical operations.

“We did in-person live training before, but that limits us in the ability to offer training both widely to larger audiences and to do it more effectively, efficiently, and passively. So that's why we decided to move everything online.” - Adam Pond

They knew they'd need an eLearning platform to distribute and manage their online courses. So, like any company looking for a new solution, Model Teaching went to Google for answers — that’s where they came across Academy of Mine.

“When we realized what we needed to do, we knew that we need a platform to do it...to take all of our training materials and put them online so we can distribute them more widely.” - Adam

Their must-have features from an eLearning platform included:

• Flexible eCommerce
• WordPress integration
• Learner reporting
• Easy-to-manage administration roles
• User-friendly interfaces and dashboards
• Ability to customize
• Stellar customer support

Avoiding Cookie-Cutter Platforms

Since Model Teaching offers training to such a specific segment in the K-12 market, to stand out from the competition they wanted to focus on quality vs. quantity with their courses.

“Teachers are extremely busy, so if they're going to sit down and actually spend time training, it has to be clear, it has to be seamless, it has to be an enjoyable experience." - Adam

Most of the other learning management systems that Model Training compared to Academy of Mine were one-size-fits-all solutions with limited customization available. Adam knew that, in addition to the specific feature set they needed in their new LMS, customization would be key to making their eLearning ventures a success.

“I did some software trials with different platforms, some of the bigger ones out there, the big name ones, and they were just very cookie cutter.” - Adam

Additionally, Model Teaching wanted a user-friendly platform that was easy to jump right into and start taking courses. While some other LMS platforms had the features they needed, they were often difficult to navigate, especially for users that aren't necessarily tech savvy.

“A lot of our customers are older teachers that are retired but want to maintain their license, and I think they appreciate the ease and simplicity of the platform.” - Adam

Developing Training With A Robust Learning Management System

As far as course creation goes, Model Teaching wanted to prioritize:

• Certificate generation
• Creating group assignments and discussion boards
• Quizzes to assess progress

Listen to Adam describe the complex solutions Academy of Mine has brought them:

“The reliability and robustness of it is really great too. The software works, there aren't tons of bugs, it's reliable, customers don't get frustrated, things work well, it's fast.” - Adam

In addition to developing and delivering professional development to their current audience of K-12 educators, they also wanted to grow their business and reach more teachers, schools, and school districts. Integrating their WordPress site with their LMS would be key to pulling that off — which is one reason they were so focused on customizations and integrations while searching.

“One thing the team did is customize basically a communication system through our main WordPress website and the LMS, so people can actually go ahead and shop our cart menu. And then all that data take is taken over to Academy of Mine, where they can finish the checkout and then take the courses in that system.” - Adam

Simplifying Training Administration for K-12 Schools

When selling courses to an academic audience, such as teachers, schools, and school districts, the ability to streamline administrative tasks and easily report on platform usage and student progress is a big selling point. With Academy of Mine, Model Teaching has been able to do the following:

• Create administrator accounts for schools and principals to help them monitor their teachers’ activity in training courses
• Integrate the LMS with WordPress to make it easy for teachers to purchase courses
• Reporting on the activity that teachers have completed in courses
• Provide approved pro-development courses in different states across the country
• Support five university partnerships with custom training courses
• Maintain entire school districts across the country with continuing education

“All of our customers find the software very easy to use. It's really fast, which is nice because a lot of our teachers are in a hurry and they're trying to get the content as fast as possible." - Adam

Combining eCommerce and an LMS to Scale Revenue

Delivering online training looks different for every customer. In Model Teaching’s case, they wanted to focus on eCommerce and finding an LMS that would support their business as it grew.

“They're helping us sell our courses, honestly, at the very broad level. They're helping us grow.” - Adam

Adam particularly emphasized how much customizations to the LMS have helped Model Teaching. The WordPress integration in particular has helped significantly grow the business.

“In terms of the business growth, we've pretty much doubled every year for the last four years and I want to keep that going.” - Adam

The Importance of Customer Support With Your LMS

When talking with Model Teaching, they talked about three things they loved about Academy of Mine:

• The robustness and reliability of the software
• Having the option to customize their LMS
• Consistently receiving outstanding customer support

“One of the reasons we've stuck with Academy of Mine is because I just trust them. They're really good with customer service, and super responsive." - Adam

Since Academy of Mine was founded in 2014, customer support has been a primary focus for us. We prioritize responding to customers quickly and helpfully, so feedback like this is always great to hear.

The Results Model Teaching Found With Academy of Mine

Model Teaching faced several challenges while growing their training business, but Academy of Mine helped them move their established training programs online by providing a reliable and customizable LMS.

As a result, Model Teaching was able to market and manage professional development courses more efficiently, and they experienced huge growth. They wanted an LMS that could be tailored to their needs and was easy to use for teachers who may not be tech-savvy, and Academy of Mine was the perfect solution for them.

“Academy of Mine has allowed us to customize the software specifically to fit our goals, and make it fit really closely to how our business operates, and do it cost-effectively.” - Adam