I was a bit bummed out about not being able to go to GeoTech with the class last Saturday; but the oddest thing happened, I got married that day. So that I would not be the only one who didn't have an field trip excursion I signed up for two professional developments with Region X. The first one I went to was a Technology Roundtable. This takes place once a month and lunch is provided!!!!! But the provision of information on upcoming changes in education through TEA was pretty cool in itself. The first training I attended was a Technology Roundtable and the purpose for this session is to discuss upcoming events in technology that districts should expect to take place on their campuses. Project Share through www.epsilen.com as explained in the roundtable is closer to social networking than education management, but TEA is adopting this to manage student profiles throughout the state for K-12. This program was developed for higher education, but is being implemented for K-12. Students will be able to utilize this site throughout the educational, as well as, professional careers.
All Region X summer programs, for example TALA, will have this included as an online component which will require those teachers participating to have a project share account. Each District has a 'corner' on project share, mainly for student portfolio use, based on what the presenter said epsilen.com will become a permanent thing throughout the state of Texas. There are a lot of ideals thrown out during this process. One of the ideas that I thought was quite intriguing is the whole use of desktop videoconferencing throughout districts. Giving principals more time on campus and attend their meetings through this media. There were a couple of web-based programs such as www.ivisit.com and www.elluminate.com that are available free of charge on a trial basis.
LOTE & Technology is the second training that I attended. In this training it gave an actual example of how videoconferencing works for the district of Ector. The former Spanish teacher of Ector High School retired and the students were going to have to change their graduation plans because the district could not find a teacher to teach Spanish II & III. With the help of PlanoISD they were able to hire a teacher who works from her home in Flower Mound and teaches through videoconferencing. It is really an awesome setup. There is a facilitator in the room while students are receiving their lesson from the instructor. The instructor as well as the facilitator put in grades and there are some assignments that are submitted online via email. The students actually enjoyed the class and felt as though they were learning Spanish at a faster rate due to the fact that they had to speak aloud more frequently due to the fact that the teacher wasn’t physically present.
The other tidbit of information that I took away from this particular training was www.dfwworld.org which is the website to the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Ft. Worth. This organization is doing a lot of awesome things with education and technology. I actually signed up to become a member because of the cultural opportunities they make available through technology for teacher and students alike. The idea of virtual fieldtrips and exposing my students to the world has me all giddy. Out of the two trainings I attended this one has to be my favorite.
No comments:
Post a Comment