Digital+Directions+Webinar+05-13-10

[|Digital Directions Webinar: Can Web 2.0 Save Teacher Professional Development?] This was a webinar hosted by Digital Directions which is part of Education Week. This activity helped me to complete ISTE Standard TF-V.A.1 “Educational technology facilitators apply technology to enhance and improve personal productivity and professional practice. Educational technology faciltators use technology resources to engage in ongoing professional development and lifelong learning. Candidates identify resources and participate in professional development activities and professional technology organizations to support ongoing professional growth related to technology.”

I have found Digital Directions weekly emails, website, and this webinar to be extremely useful in becoming a technology facilitator and leader. Everyone in the organization is an educator and is looking for the best ways to implement technology to improve student achievement. At the time I attended this webinar I was taking EDLD 5368 Instructional Design and we were designing our own online class. In my current position I do a lot of professional development with teachers. So I designed my own class for teachers.

So when I saw the title of this webinar and how it was about using web 2.0 tools to “save” teacher professional development, I was definitely interested. The presenters each gave an overview of their expertise and then it was opened up for questions. Christopher Sessums, is an assistant professor in the College of Education at the University of Florida and he talked about the research for online learning. Actually, he talked more about the need for MORE research on online learning as the field is relatively new. The other presenter was Barbara Treacy, director, EdTech Leaders Online, Education Development Center and she gave us a ton of resources. There were organizations I have heard of like Moodle, etc. but there were lots of others that I hadn’t like Voicethread.

The best part was where they answered questions like “How do you get started?” and “How do you convince teachers/administrators that this is viable?” Being a part of thisgroup of professionals that are integrating technology into education is supporting my own professional growth.

Here is a link to the webinar: []