Due in no small part to earning my master’s degree in ADL at Lamar University, I started a new position at my school this year as an Instructional Technology Coach. I am so excited to put into action what I’ve learned about learning, and excited every day about what there is for ME to learn. If Moore’s Law is true, I want my mind set towards learning to mirror it. No matter what I learn, I will need to have an attitude of continual and exponential growth in that learning.
One of those areas for me currently is Asset Management on my campus. Fortunately I’m an organized person naturally, but this (and the outdated software associated with it) was not on my radar! 🙂
A few things that I’m VERY excited about is that in addition to coaching the teachers in our building on effective use of technology to drive instruction, I also am priveleged to to teach every student in our building! Each Social Studies teacher will bring her class to me once a quarter, so by the end of the school year I will have taught all 1200 students four times. Our first rotation just concluded, and now our Mitchell Mustangs all have an introduction to keyboarding, and have been taught the basics of file management. Every student’s Google Drive is organized in the same way, with the same language.
For our teachers, I am working with our principal on awarding teachers micro-credentials towards professional learning. Referencing this article on preparing teachers for deeper learning, we are planning ways to incentivise and acknowledge staff members for professional learning. The article speaks on demonstrating competency with artifacts, and when an artifact is created that serves as a competency, the teacher earns either a digital or physcial “badge” to display.
Not only will they earn PD hours, they can do so at their own pace. They will also earn a sense of pride when they receive their badge, and other educators will then know who they might collaborate with when they seek their micro-credential.
While not an ePortfolio, micro-credentials are an excellent way to educators to show what they are learning, and to learn by doing. This practice also supports Allison Gulamhessein’s research on effective professional learning because it will unfold over a school year (or more), providing a longer duration of learning. Teachers working together and with a technology coach provides support and modeling. Because the learning will be done in a blended format after making their own choices, learners will remain engaged.
