Education Technology

Professional Development for educators is something that I believe still needs to be improved. Many educators have turned online for some of their professional development. Social media provides a great resource for educators, especially Twitter, to connect, share and learn with other educators. There are new forms of in-person professional development, like Edcamps, that are also a great way for educators to learn new things.

Here is a list of 50 online resources for professional development for educators:

50 Excellent Online Professional Development Resources for Teachers

Check out some more great information and resources on educator professional development.

Professional Development for Educators needs to change

11 steps to planning quality Professional Development

The 4th Annual Virtual Summer Camp for Teachers is now available. It is being hosted through Learni.st.

The Virtual Summer Camp for Teachers provides on-demand, anytime learning for educators. The summer camp is organized by topic areas, which include: Common Core Resources, Essential Apps for Educators, Webinar and Online PD opportunities, Virtual Crafts, and even a mess hall with food and recipe ideas.



On July 24th there will be a live component ASCD Webinar. You can register for this free webinar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/873801905

Materials from the previous three Virtual Summer Camps are available also:

Virtual Summer Camp Year 1
Virtual Summer Camp Year 2
Virtual Summer Camp Year 3

So, go camping this summer and learn some new things for next year: http://learni.st/users/MikeFisher/boards/1950-virtual-summer-camp-for-teachers-2012


Source: http://digigogy.com

Related:EdCamp CT is Aug 10th. I'm going. Are you? You should be! (and if you can't be there in person, follow along on Twitter)

EdumodoCon is a free, online professional development conference being held on Wednesday, August 8th, 2012. Throughout the day, teachers will share ways they are using Edmodo and other digital tools in the classroom. It is scheduled for 10:00am - 9:00pm ET (GMT -5).

If you are interested in presenting, go to the Call for Presenters site.

You can register for the conference, for free, here.

Edmodo is a great resource for teachers and students, providing a secure social learning network for classes. Teachers can host online discussions, share resources, and assign work to students.



Related:

22 Great Tips on using Edmodo in the classroom

5 Great course management resources for educators

Which Social Network should you use? Infographic on which to use when.

Some more great Android Apps for Education (including Edmodo app)

EdCamp is a great series of free, unconferences for educators. The Edcamp model is unique in that attendees set the agenda the morning of the conference and the sessions are not led by one person, but are rather a collaboration of both the facilitator and attendees.

Powerful Learning Practice is a site that provides professional development and resources for teachers to implement new technologies and pedagogy to create "21st Century Classrooms." There are some good resources on the site.

They have an article entitled "A Day in the Life of a Connected Educator – Using social media in 21st century classrooms" that looks at how teachers use social media and other Web 2.0 tools to improve teaching and learning.

The infographic is interesting and has ideas for using social media in the classroom. It follows a teacher through her day as she uses social media sites and Web 2.0 resources throughout her day as an educator. Teachers can get some great ideas from this for their own use.

It can be found at their site:
http://plpnetwork.com/2012/05/07/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-connected-educator-using-social-media-throughout-your-day/



Related:

Social Media in Education - connect, share, learn, communicate and more
Twitter, Google Plus, and Facebook - a nice comparison
Which Social Network should you use? Infographic on which to use when.

Edcamp is a great series of free, unconferences for educators. The Edcamp model is unique in that attendees set the agenda the morning of the conference and the sessions are not led by one person, but are rather a collaboration of both the facilitator and attendees.

Carolyn Jo Starkey has created an excellent Livebinder about Edcamp.

In the Livebinder, she has binders on what Edcamp is, how to plan one, how to finance one, presentations about and from Edcamps, participant feedback and links to articles, blogs, and webpages about Edcamp and improving professional development for teachers. It's a great resource for anyone wondering about, attending, or planning an Edcamp (or other PD ).

SimpleK12, a great resource for educators, is sponsoring a great free online Education Conference Wednesday, April 25th - Thursday, April 26th, 2012. Topics include Google Earth and Maps, Free Web Tools, Google Plus, Social Networking, Blogging, Student Projects, iPads in Education, Digital Writing, Curation, and much more. The conference runs for 24 hours so you can attend at anytime, from anywhere.


Learn something new without the need for travel or money.


(And don't forget that the Social Learning Summit - free virtual conference is April 21, 2012 )


View a full list of topics and register here: http://simplek12.com/tlc/webinars/#OEC


Conference Flyer:




Related:

Social Learning Summit - free virtual conference April 21, 2012

Edcamp is a great series of free, unconferences for educators. The Edcamp model is unique in that attendees set the agenda the morning of the conference and the sessions are not led by one person, but are rather a collaboration of both the facilitator and attendees.

Edcamp is an excellent professional development model for teachers. It is teacher run and teacher organized and is always highly rated by participants. There are some great Edcamps coming up around the country too, and you can find out more about them here.

Now, Edcamp is coming for educational leaders. The very first Edcamp Leadership is being held on Thursday, July 26th at the beautiful, modern Foundation for Educational Administration (FEA) Administration Conference and Training Center located at the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association (NJPSA) headquarters building in Monroe Township, NJ. Click here for images of the conference center. Click here for directions. It's free!

Doors open at 8:00 am with registration, breakfast refreshments, networking, and session-building with your colleagues. This is when you can sign up to lead a session, prepare for the day’s events, and meet some new friends. At 9:30, the organizers will kickoff the unconference and Edcamp Leadership will get underway! 

Sessions will be 50 minutes in length, and there will be 10 minutes in between each to allow participants to get to the next room and continue casual conversations following sessions.
Lunch will be provided.

Edcamp Leadership is a free unconference for school leaders devoted to K-12 education issues and ideas. Its goal is to assemble forward-thinking school administrators, board of education members, classroom teacher leaders, parents/community members – anyone interested in K-12 education – for a day of conversation, reflection and inspiration.

Edcamp Leadership is being organized by some very dedicated and talented educators and educational leaders who have also organized Edcamps. 

Discovery Education's Discovery Educator Network runs a variety of professional development sessions each year. These are usually online sessions with live meet-ups also planned. For this Spring, they are doing something different instead of the normal Spring Virtual Conference. The DEN is partnering with Classroom 2.0 to present the Social Learning Summit. Steve Hargadon, of Classroom 2.0, and the DEN are working together to organize the event which will be held Saturday, April 21st. The event is free.



More information can be found on the DEN blog and Classroom 2.0 sites, including how to submit a presentation proposal. Stay tuned for more information.

The conference theme is the use of social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning, and we are calling for proposals immediately at http://www.SocialLearningSummit.com. To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please join the Classroom 2.0 network. This will also allow you to correspond with the presenters and other members, and to comment on sessions and discussions. 

Sessions will be 30 minutes in length, and can focus on practical classroom application or pedagogical frameworks or both. Please do not submit a session if your are a vendor or a vendor representative. Whilepresentation proposals will be accepted through April 7th, session acceptances will start to be issued on March 26th, at which time presenters will be given a chance to use a scheduling calendar to pick an available time to present. All sessions will be held in Blackboard Collaborate (previously Elluminate), and training sessions will be available both "live" and in recorded form.

Related:Discovery Educator Network - great resources and great addition to any PLN

NASA's Simulation Based Aerospace Engineering Teacher Professional Development Program is a program geared towards helping educators become skilled in teaching engineering concepts. The program includes education materials, teacher internships, and industry and higher education partnerships. The program offers US STEM teachers the opportunity to work beside NASA engineers and mentors. It is focused on aeronautics modeling and simulation and teachers explore cutting-edge technology, aerospace engineering concepts, and develop hands-on lessons.

The site has lessons from previous sessions that teachers can download and use. The lessons include the simulation and lesson plan. The resource section has downloads, information on simulations, more lesson examples, and other STEM resources and links.


Related:

More great educational resources from NASA

STEM Resources for Educators and Students

Professional development is an important part of education and educator's professional learning. Unfortunately, professional development is not always planned or delivered well, or is not relevant to the staff. Here are some tips for planning professional development:

1. Develop a professional development committee to plan and coordinate.

2. Demonstrate examples of classroom technology use, best practices, etc.

3. Use multiple needs assessment instruments. What does the staff need/want for professional development? Take a survey, email them, ask them to send in ideas. Use the EdCamp model.

4. Design individual learning plans based on the needs and wants of the staff.

5. Identify leaders who can provide expertise. This includes your own teachers and staff. You do not have to hire expensive consultants for professional development. Look inside your own school and district first.

6. Create a list of on-site learning opportunities. What are you going to offer at your school?

7. Share a list of off-site and online learning opportunities. Also share methods and resources for funding. Share free conferences, like Day of Discovery, EdCamp, TeachMeets and online conferences and more with your staff.

8. Build in time for staff planning meetings.

9. Share successes as well as expectations not yet met.

10. Continue to plan and re-evaluate often.

11. Create programs that provide on-going support. This is very important. Offering 2 hours of training is all well and good, but there must be on-going support to help teachers implement what they learn.


Related:

Professional Development for Educators needs to change

Helping Educators Get Started with Educational Technology

Free Professional Development Resource - teacher PD sourcebook

Great Articles - Professional Development 2.0