Over
the years research has shown that “if student learning is the goal,
effective teaching means creating effective learning environments, and
environments where students are actively participating and engaged with
the material are crucial to student learning”. (Tewksbury and Macdonald)
To use any technology as an effective learning tool, a teacher must critically assess if the tool will successfully address intended learning goals. The use of technology must be closely guided by alignment to learning outcomes and academic content standards so that learning will afford educators, and ultimately students, the opportunity to connect classroom concepts to real-world applications. However, for successful design and adoption of new strategies, educators need interaction with the technology, time to build their skill and comfort levels and, most importantly, participate in active, collaborative learning opportunities to plan for implementation in their classrooms.
With the advent of the revised common core standards, and the highly visible presence of technology and 21st century skills within the model curricula, there is a demand from Ohio schools for professional development that focuses on integration and effective instructional strategies. Being one of eight educational technology agencies supported by eTech Ohio and the Ohio Department of Education, WGTE Public Media realizes that technology cannot stand alone in the pursuit of individualizing student learning and nurturing 21st century skills. Therefore, our professional development focuses on supporting these efforts.
In the next 4 weeks, we hope to build upon these ideas and instructional strategies by helping teachers learn about professional development programs offered through WGTE. As an EdTech agency we have struggled with effectively communicating our programs and events with our partner schools. To help bridge this gap, we plan on amping up our communication efforts.
Goals:
1. Increase teacher awareness of WGTE professional development programs and events via tools such as Twitter, Blogger, and an E-Newsletter.
2. Develop a shared body of standards-based activities and best practices that utilize technology to foster communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills. (information to be posted to blog)
3. Demonstrate how technology can effectively serve as a tool to individualize student learning.
Promotional Outline
Twitter
Twitter is a great online resource being utilized by millions of people across the globe. Short messages (140 character or less) can be sent out to anyone who is “following” you. A Twitter account will be created and our goal is to have between 15-30 followers in the next four weeks. We will post information about our professional development programs as well as any other resources that would be of importance to educators.
Blogger
In an effort to gain feedback from educators and to support reflexive and collaborative learning environments, a blog will be created. The goal is to post at least once a week. We will blog about new technologies or discuss learning strategies. Communication is encouraged, so commenting will be allowed on this site.
E-Newsletter
Not all educators want to join Twitter or blog about their experiences. Therefore, an E-Newsletter will be sent out to the more than 2000 educators that we serve every year. Email lists have been compiled and a monthly newsletter will go out with information regarding programs and other events being held at WGTE.
Project Evaluation
The evaluation of this project will employ a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the extent to which project goals and objectives are achieved. The evaluation tasks conducted throughout this project will evaluate the implementation of the project activities as well as the impact of the project on educators.
The technology that was chosen for implementation was social networking and online communication. The problem that I am working on is building communication with WGTE schools and teachers in NW Ohio. My plan was to work with three specific tools; Twitter, and electronic newsletter and a blog. The technology that I have chosen supports the teaching strategies that I have chosen. The strategies that I have chosen are effective discussion, using visuals and multimedia. Twitter and Blogger help support effective discussion in that questions are used to prompt teachers in discussion. Links and videos help support multimedia learning. The electronic newsletter helps support using visuals as well as multimedia.
The social networking tools that I selected helps makes the content extremely accessible to all teachers and administrators. Links and video are available on Twitter, Blogger, and the newsletter to give educators easy access to all programs and professional development at WGTE.
The instructional strategies that I have chosen are more communicative and visual in nature and focus on getting information to educators. The strategies make the content that I am trying to share more accessible and easier to access. If I want to share information on Flipped Classroom that WGTE has coming up in November, I will post a discussion question up on Blogger and let teachers discuss. Then, I can let them know about the class. In this way, the strategies and the content work very nicely together.
(Designing Effective and Innovative Courses, Dr. Barbara J. Tewksbury and Dr. R. Heather Macdonald, 2005, On The Cutting Edge, October 15, 2012,http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/strategie
To use any technology as an effective learning tool, a teacher must critically assess if the tool will successfully address intended learning goals. The use of technology must be closely guided by alignment to learning outcomes and academic content standards so that learning will afford educators, and ultimately students, the opportunity to connect classroom concepts to real-world applications. However, for successful design and adoption of new strategies, educators need interaction with the technology, time to build their skill and comfort levels and, most importantly, participate in active, collaborative learning opportunities to plan for implementation in their classrooms.
With the advent of the revised common core standards, and the highly visible presence of technology and 21st century skills within the model curricula, there is a demand from Ohio schools for professional development that focuses on integration and effective instructional strategies. Being one of eight educational technology agencies supported by eTech Ohio and the Ohio Department of Education, WGTE Public Media realizes that technology cannot stand alone in the pursuit of individualizing student learning and nurturing 21st century skills. Therefore, our professional development focuses on supporting these efforts.
In the next 4 weeks, we hope to build upon these ideas and instructional strategies by helping teachers learn about professional development programs offered through WGTE. As an EdTech agency we have struggled with effectively communicating our programs and events with our partner schools. To help bridge this gap, we plan on amping up our communication efforts.
Goals:
1. Increase teacher awareness of WGTE professional development programs and events via tools such as Twitter, Blogger, and an E-Newsletter.
2. Develop a shared body of standards-based activities and best practices that utilize technology to foster communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking skills. (information to be posted to blog)
3. Demonstrate how technology can effectively serve as a tool to individualize student learning.
Promotional Outline
Twitter is a great online resource being utilized by millions of people across the globe. Short messages (140 character or less) can be sent out to anyone who is “following” you. A Twitter account will be created and our goal is to have between 15-30 followers in the next four weeks. We will post information about our professional development programs as well as any other resources that would be of importance to educators.
Blogger
In an effort to gain feedback from educators and to support reflexive and collaborative learning environments, a blog will be created. The goal is to post at least once a week. We will blog about new technologies or discuss learning strategies. Communication is encouraged, so commenting will be allowed on this site.
E-Newsletter
Not all educators want to join Twitter or blog about their experiences. Therefore, an E-Newsletter will be sent out to the more than 2000 educators that we serve every year. Email lists have been compiled and a monthly newsletter will go out with information regarding programs and other events being held at WGTE.
Project Evaluation
The evaluation of this project will employ a mixed-methods approach, using both quantitative and qualitative data to determine the extent to which project goals and objectives are achieved. The evaluation tasks conducted throughout this project will evaluate the implementation of the project activities as well as the impact of the project on educators.
The technology that was chosen for implementation was social networking and online communication. The problem that I am working on is building communication with WGTE schools and teachers in NW Ohio. My plan was to work with three specific tools; Twitter, and electronic newsletter and a blog. The technology that I have chosen supports the teaching strategies that I have chosen. The strategies that I have chosen are effective discussion, using visuals and multimedia. Twitter and Blogger help support effective discussion in that questions are used to prompt teachers in discussion. Links and videos help support multimedia learning. The electronic newsletter helps support using visuals as well as multimedia.
The social networking tools that I selected helps makes the content extremely accessible to all teachers and administrators. Links and video are available on Twitter, Blogger, and the newsletter to give educators easy access to all programs and professional development at WGTE.
The instructional strategies that I have chosen are more communicative and visual in nature and focus on getting information to educators. The strategies make the content that I am trying to share more accessible and easier to access. If I want to share information on Flipped Classroom that WGTE has coming up in November, I will post a discussion question up on Blogger and let teachers discuss. Then, I can let them know about the class. In this way, the strategies and the content work very nicely together.
(Designing Effective and Innovative Courses, Dr. Barbara J. Tewksbury and Dr. R. Heather Macdonald, 2005, On The Cutting Edge, October 15, 2012,http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/strategie
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