Building bridges: Strengthening new teacher induction through digital means

The research on new teacher induction encourages educational preparation programs and school districts to create innovative, sustainable initiatives that support new teachers and increase teacher retention in the field. While traditional mentoring programs and ongoing professional development have always been provided for new teachers, programs are beginning to experiment with digital induction tools, including asynchronous (webinars) and synchronous (blogs, websites, social media, podcasts) as a means to support new teachers. This paper details the initial steps, current findings, and future goals to establish a sustainable digital induction program that expands upon an existing one-day professional development session offered by one university-based Educator Preparation Program (EPP). Suggestions for the creation and implementation of the blog site and recruitment of author participants will be shared in addition to content from posts, working challenges, and future goals.