Looking for a Focus...
For this week, the Inquiry Blog assignment pulls me in two directions... The first is to focus on a digital "professional collection" in terms of creating a Library Digital Learning Commons website of some sort that houses learning links for teachers (and students), and that contains examples and tutorials on using apps, etc to enhance learning in the classroom (all of which is a goal I'm slowly building towards). The second direction my mind is going in is related to becoming a conduit for connecting fellow teachers to on-line course work as pro-d. Since I know that I mirror colleague curiosity and trepidation about this realm (even though I've liked taking LIBE/LLED courses online), I pushed myself to go exploring in this second direction. So...
The Question to Focus On
How can we as Teacher-Librarians lead the way in teaching, or pointing the way toward, meaningful ICT professional development on-line for our colleagues?
The True Confessions Component
Yikes! A daunting question up above. One which makes me nervous as I feel new to the whole realm of online pro-d myself (beyond UBC T-L courses). I have participated in two math webinars (three years ago) and, truth be told, did not love the format...maybe just because I'm geezerific, maybe because the particular moderator/teacher wasn't as effective as others, maybe because I just wasn't used to it—I'm not sure.
Getting Over Myself (speaking of ending ignorance...)
However, in the end, it was exceedingly cool to be sort of face-to-face with an educator I respected while he was thousands of kilometres away in Toronto. And do a few tiresome tech difficulties really undermine the amazingness of being able to do that; do they eliminate the benefits of connecting to a personal learning network that would have been impossible not so long ago? No, definitely not. In the end, everything eventually ran smoothly. I was glad to have been a part of it. And with the rapidity of tech advancements in this era, there is every chance that the flaws of a few years ago have already been mitigated...
So...this week, I decided to get over myself, and began to look into what sort of online—preferably free—pro-d is available currently available. I have heard of things like MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), but didn't realize just how many of them were out there! I figure that as a T-L, becoming a portal to such pro-d info for my colleagues has some value: everyone is busy, and so everyone can appreciate a middleman who points out a course of possible interest. And who knows, I just might find something for myself, too! Posted below are a few finds...
A Few Good Finds for Online Pro-D
What I really liked about Class Central (above image) was that it was laid out simply and started with offerings current to the date of searching and expanding out into the future, rather than being yet another list of various MOOCs, etc, that were amazing, but already over. On one level, we could simply send the link out to colleagues to do their own searches through the offerings, or, even better, we could scroll through looking for topics that suit individual staff member interests, or school pro-d goals, and send info about those specific courses.
A site called Edudemic also was useful for online pro-d suggestions using ICT tools. Its "9 Places to Find High-Quality On-line Professional Development" article led me to the TeachersFirst website.
If a colleague was tentatively interested in using blogs, I would definitely send them there; then, once they had chosen a blog tool, I would make sure I learned all about it, send them a video link showing how to set up accounts, and then sit down with them to set it all up together.
TeachersFirst also offers a wide variety of live online pro-d in their "OK2Ask" section (pdf schedule of coming events attached here). The description in the picture here sums them up nicely:
This site also has an archive of how-to "courses" that walk teachers step-by-step through how to incorporate technology in their teaching. The information is presented in bite-size chunks, which is non-threatening. The interface is relatively low-tech looking, uncluttered, and not full of flashy distractions—perfect for those colleagues nervous but curious about using more tech in class. One particular example: I read through the course called "Blog Basics for the Classroom," and found it to be a great intro.
Another possibility found via Edudemic was the Intel Teach Elements site. I could see a small group of colleagues choosing a self-directed, self-paced course together on a topic of mutual interest. It would especially lend itself to our district's After-School Collaboration Sessions pro-d, where teachers interested in a given topic meet together for four to five sessions throughout the year (and receive two set lieu days in recognition of the time devoted to extra pro-d).
TeachersFirst also offers a wide variety of live online pro-d in their "OK2Ask" section (pdf schedule of coming events attached here). The description in the picture here sums them up nicely:
This site also has an archive of how-to "courses" that walk teachers step-by-step through how to incorporate technology in their teaching. The information is presented in bite-size chunks, which is non-threatening. The interface is relatively low-tech looking, uncluttered, and not full of flashy distractions—perfect for those colleagues nervous but curious about using more tech in class. One particular example: I read through the course called "Blog Basics for the Classroom," and found it to be a great intro.
Another possibility found via Edudemic was the Intel Teach Elements site. I could see a small group of colleagues choosing a self-directed, self-paced course together on a topic of mutual interest. It would especially lend itself to our district's After-School Collaboration Sessions pro-d, where teachers interested in a given topic meet together for four to five sessions throughout the year (and receive two set lieu days in recognition of the time devoted to extra pro-d).
Closing Thoughts
There is an amazing variety of useful coursework to be found out there in the ether...best if we Teacher-Librarians decide to be a guide towards finding it for colleagues.
Besides pointing out the above online courses available to my colleagues, I plan to continue investigating uses for various apps, and suggesting/demonstrating uses for them in my colleagues' teaching. Sometimes teachers come to us wanting support with incorporating tech tools, but if we can anticipate good options and approach them with an idea already fleshed out...well, that tends to get quicker buy-in. Investigating the new curriculum documents and planning ahead with how to help teachers' pro-d transitions--and how to incorporate 21st Century Literacies into that curriculum--is a big goal for this year and next year. I would like to create some grade-by-grade links for teachers showing how to use interactive communication tools to meet curriculum content goals, in much the same way the new curriculum documents provide digital audio/video examples in the "Competency Illustrations" page of the Communication tab, as in these two items:
A)
Blog: Perfect School, which could be used to further support the imagined colleague I mentioned earlier who wants to start using blogs.
B)
Retelling Little Red Riding Hood, which simply shows how using the iPad camera to record students' oral language learning can show not only what they know, but make visible their confidence, their memory strategies, their voice modulation, and so much more--all in a format that can re-played for deeper assessment purposes, or that can be shared with a parent to deepen their understanding of their son/daughter's skills or challenges.
Besides pointing out the above online courses available to my colleagues, I plan to continue investigating uses for various apps, and suggesting/demonstrating uses for them in my colleagues' teaching. Sometimes teachers come to us wanting support with incorporating tech tools, but if we can anticipate good options and approach them with an idea already fleshed out...well, that tends to get quicker buy-in. Investigating the new curriculum documents and planning ahead with how to help teachers' pro-d transitions--and how to incorporate 21st Century Literacies into that curriculum--is a big goal for this year and next year. I would like to create some grade-by-grade links for teachers showing how to use interactive communication tools to meet curriculum content goals, in much the same way the new curriculum documents provide digital audio/video examples in the "Competency Illustrations" page of the Communication tab, as in these two items:
A)
Blog: Perfect School, which could be used to further support the imagined colleague I mentioned earlier who wants to start using blogs.
B)
Retelling Little Red Riding Hood, which simply shows how using the iPad camera to record students' oral language learning can show not only what they know, but make visible their confidence, their memory strategies, their voice modulation, and so much more--all in a format that can re-played for deeper assessment purposes, or that can be shared with a parent to deepen their understanding of their son/daughter's skills or challenges.
References
BC Ministry of Education,. Competency Illustrations: Retelling Little Red Riding Hood. 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Curriculum.gov.bc.ca,. 'Building Student Success - BC's New Curriculum'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Curriculum.gov.bc.ca,. 'Communication Profiles: Communication Competency Illustrations: Blog: Perfect School'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Intel,. 'Intel® Teach Elements'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Jumpmath.org,. 'JUMP Math :: Home'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Learning, Class. 'Class Central'. Class Central. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Lepi, Katie. '9 Places To Find Great Online Professional Development'. Edudemic.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Mighton, John. The End Of Ignorance. Toronto: Vintage Canada, 2008. Print.
Ncte.org,. 'NCTE Framework For 21St Century Curriculum And Assessment'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Teachersfirst.com,. 'Teachersfirst - Ok2ask®: Free Online Professional Development For Teachers'. N.p., 2015. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Teachersfirst.com,. 'Teachersfirst: Blog Basics For The Classroom'. Web. 18 Oct. 2015.
Good reflection with honest discussion about some of the challenges and trepidation we all face in supporting others in areas we are not experts in! A good explanation of some of the options and strategies as well as benefits and supports we as TLs can provide our colleagues and community. Some great suggestions, good linking, images, and tagging.
ReplyDeleteChris, thanks for the helpful links. I think your goal for this year and next is great and will surely help your colleagues as well as yourself! I too am very interested in creating a collection of apps, divided by grade, that will be helpful for staff and students. But first, I need to take baby steps and work on my blogging skills -so thank you for the blog websites. I will definitely be checkingthem out!
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