Blended and self-directed professional development is the training teachers need for the 21st century. K12 Online is the way to make that happen. - Wes FryerDarren Kuropatwa streamed in live over the internet from Canada to share his experiences last year with K12 Online. It is an online conference for professional development online. Presented by individuals involved in cutting edge 21st century learning. It is marked by the passion of the people participating. Dip your toe in and see what is there. It is free, that's right.....free!
Bud Hunt did the keynote from his car, porch and basement. It was truly that homegrown. K12 Online - everyone takes turns driving the learning and riding the learning. It's up to all of us to make connections. Why shouldn't teachers just have their own professional development? Because we will perpetuate what we already know. It's nice to learn from other places, hear about issues and how they are overcome . These are conversations that should be happening.
A district tech integration specialist from Alabama tried to figure out a way to provide her teachers cutting edge tech training for the one day they had. She set it up so the teachers would listen to the podcast or video on K12 Online all at the same time that day. They were able to choose sessions that applied to them as learners. One great way to choose is by academic needs at school. Talk about meeting differientiated needs!
Jeff Utecht - formerly of Shanghai American School had the idea of hosting a LAN party (Local Area Network - haha) He had pot luck dinners at his apartment for four Saturdays where everyone brought food and then after dinner they would break up in the apartment with computers and headphones for an hour and then would come back as a group and podcast their thoughts.
Sheryl NussbaumBeach spoke about the Live events on K12 Online - fireside chats and "when night falls" events are a way to connect internationally with other educators. Conversations with other educators can transform our thinking.
The great thing about this conference that is coming again this year... is that because it is online you can go view LAST year's sessions now. AND, did I mention it is free?
4 comments:
I viewed some of these sessions as they were happening last year and was quite impressed. For many teachers, the time would have to be provided on the clock for them to spend time viewing the sessions, but isn't it great that it's available for those of us that just want to learn about something specific anytime, anywhere? This entire idea of PD on-line is so mind boggling... dayle
We obviously need more than 24 hours in each day.
Debby
Your enthusiasm is contagious. Looking forward to seeing online at this year's conference. ;-)
Cheers,
Darren
Perhaps we can use this tool for our teacher meetings and faculty professional development? We could have break out sessions to view specific topics. I think there may also be some motivated teachers who would like to start independent groups that meet before school. Anyone interested?
-Cheryl
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