Exploring Learning

Here is a reflection on a hypothetical district and how the ISTE and NETP standards can be applied. It analyses the current state of educational technology and the implications these standards have on thinking about professional learning.

This week, we have been exploring andragogy and how we can use learning theory to motivate and design learning for adults. We had to create a Padlet to share our ideas. Access mine HERE or click below.

"You must leave digital footprints so people know you’re treading among them and part of the community" Vicki Davis, ' Global Education by Design '. I joined Twitter in July 2012 and I honestly can’t tell you what prompted me to join. I had been in a school in Malaysia for a year and that had been my first exposure to teaching with technology. We were a 1:1 Mac school just starting to implement GSuite for Education (or Google Apps for Education as it was then). At that time, the apps were limited, tables for example, in Google Docs, didn’t work properly and the formatting options were limited. There was no Google Classroom either. However, it revolutionised my teaching and I began to write websites as schemes of work that had my learners as the audience and focused on what they were doing, rather than an list of instructions that I, as the teacher, should do to them. I also began to use Edmodo to share all my resources and lessons with my learners online for 2...

For part of this week's assignment, I had to read up on different management theories - which gave me flash backs to my PGDip in Management that I did last century, and thank goodness I got out of that dull quagmire - as well as models of innovation. This is all as research into how we can implement a successful training plan for teachers, which is the major focus and assignment for this semester. As my Masters is in the use of technology, we are encouraged to try different tools - this week, I used Popplet , an interactive collaborative mind-mapping application. Go to  Organisational Change  to see the Popplet.

A reflection on my thoughts around staff development and training comes along nicely on the coattails of a piece of research I conducted last year into the role technology professionals have in the school environment today, and where I see that role going in the future (see my post, Teacher Geeks ). My research unequivocally states that “it is essential that educators remain current in content, pedagogy and technology practices and theory”, as we move towards empowering ALL teachers to be skilled in the effective use of technology in their classrooms, and away from discrete roles for tech coaches. For an inclusive community model cultivating “teaching geeks” (Guerin, 2016) to be a reality, constant training in relevant content, pedagogy and technology is essential, and schools (and educators) must be committed to providing time and space for effective professional learning opportunities. Too often, I have learned what not to do when it comes to effective professional learning (PL) and...

In the latest module of my Masters in Education and Instructional Technology, we studied "Administration of Technology Initiatives: Planning, Budgeting, and Evaluation". This involved us exploring how to research and write for grants, as well as design and plan at both classroom and school initiative level. As many schools are implementing technology into their curriculum, it is important that we think about the role that educators and technology integrators can play in successful technology use in the classroom. This following is my research into technology professionals conducted during the summer of 2016. I have since gained employment elsewhere and am no longer working at the school mentioned in this paper. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --> Technology Professionals: The ‘Interview’ With the advent of technology becoming more prevalent in schools, many establishments...