This past week I attend the EdTech PD Cadre sponsored by OETC and ODE. One of our activities was to use a Web 2.0 tool to reflect on one of the goals of the year-long program. We chose:
A goal of the EdTech PD Cadre is to identify and disseminate best practices targeting technology integration into teaching and learning by focusing on exemplary staff development skills
Here is our reflection post:
Do you want to easily record people’s opinions on the go – well then use the mini-computer in your pocket – your cell phone. Gabcast allows to easily record interviews, podcasts, speeches, language practice, etc… all on your cell phone.
For our example, we set up a Channel on Gabcast. I dialed the 1-888 number and put in the channel number that I created during set up. I began the first episode and recorded an interview with a cadre member – asking them to discuss ideas for effective staff development. After the interview I selected #2 to publish the episode on the Gabcast website. Immediately I was able to record a new episode so I passed my phone around 2 times and each interview was a separate recording.
Go to this website to hear our recordings: http://www.gabcast.com/index.php?a=episodes&id=23214
If you were subscribed to my channel, you would received notification of each new episode in your RSS Reader.
You can also download the audio files and use them in videos, VoiceThreads, photostory, or edit them in Audacity.
Classroom use ideas:
- Record interviews (career, grandparent interviews)
- Make your own field trip audio guide
- Record speeches
- Foreign language practice
- Record opinions about hot topics
- Don’t have enough microphones in your classroom? Allow your students to use their cell phones instead!
I’m sure you can find hundreds of ways you can use this in your classroom or during your professional development workshops. Have fun!
Martha Thornburg tagged me for this Professional Development Goals Meme. I first met Martha at a DEN event at the NCCE conference in Seattle but more recently the two of us represented the beautiful NW at the Google Teacher Academy. She bugged me about finishing my STAR Discovery Educator application so I guess I will need to include that for one of my goals.
Directions
Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2008 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.
The Rules:
- Pick 3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
- For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/01/08).
- Post the above directions along with your 3 goals on your blog.
- Title your post Professional Development Meme and link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/353.
- Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme.
- Tag 8 others to participate in the meme.
- Achieve your goals and “develop professionally.”
- Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.
Colette’s Goals:
- My STAR Discovery Education application is complete, I just need to host my first event. I plan on meeting with the middle school teachers & Librarian in August and take a couple of hours to review unitedstreaming and discuss how we are going to implement media into our curriculum this year. The PD will be held during the week of August 18-22.
- Finish listening to audio version of Wikinomics and read Here Comes Everybody (already ordered it from Amazon).
- Take the time to go back and look at each of the Google tools that were introduced at the GTA and write out my action plan -which is due June 25th.
I Tag my new GCT friends …
If you see your name below, you know what to do.
I love these ideas from David Warlick’s blog. Every educator needs to be a self-directed LEARNER and develop their own community of practice to assist them in developing themselves as a literate 21st century educator.
- Find two or more other educators in your school who are interested in learning and using emerging information and communication technologies. It would be of enormous advantage if you can include your schools library media specialist.
- Identify the appropriate person in your school or district who can provide technical support and configuration for your increasingly utilized computers and network. Bake them some chocolate chip cookies.
- Identify some edu-bloggers who are talking about the emerging ICTs you are considering. See the Bloggers to Learn From wiki, contributed to by a world community of educators.
- Delegate! Assign each member of your team some of the selected blogs to follow, and share specific posts with each other.
- Read, study, and discuss books about teaching and learning and the world we’re doing it in. See the Books to Learn From. wiki, contributed to by a world community of educators.
- Schedule regular meetings (once or twice a month) at a local restaurant, coffee shop, or pizzeria (preferably with WiFi). Meet and discuss what you’ve learned and what you want to learn.
- Start a group del.icio.us (A social bookmarks service) account for organizing and sharing web resources.
- Start a wiki for posting notes, links, and step-by-step instructions.
- Join one or more of the Ning social networks, such as: School 2.0, Library 2.0, Classroom 2.0.
- Start your own blogs for sharing your reflections on what you are learning and how you are learning it.
- Start experimenting in your class and share the results.
- Share your results with other teachers in your school and Invite them into your conversation.
Start to model, in your job as a teacher, the practice of being a master learner.
