LIBE 477-Inquiry Blog Post 5: Phase Two Topics and Interests
Throughout the last phase of our studies in
this course, my key takeaways have revolved around ICT skills. How to develop
my own professional development in this area, how to share this with staff, and
how these skills can be passed on to the students.
I learned that collaboration is important. I need to be willing to reach out to other colleagues and form learning support networks to provide scaffolding for my own skills development, which I can then share with other colleagues and with students. As Miller mentions, “The key to digital age mentorships is to create relationships that foster partnerships both in and out of school”, (2019). I also came to realize that developing a personal learning network (PLN) is twofold for me. The first part is reaching out to known colleagues in my school or even in my school division for tech learning support, finding an unofficial mentor, or taking some of the school tech workshops that are offered.
The
second part is taking that professional development search online. Using social
media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to follow other teachers
for new ideas, perspectives, and tips and tricks for my own ICT skills
development. I have been inspired and grateful during this exploration to see
how many teachers out there are freely sharing their wisdom and resources with
other teachers, for example, the tech advocate blog shares some great
tech tips for kindergarten, and the hamsareddy blog has a great page on
ICT for all grade levels. When I have something that might be of interest, I’m
even getting confident enough to share occasionally too.
Personal Learning Networks for Educators
If
I could pick one topic that resonated with me from our learnings I would say
it’s the importance of collaboration and continually exploring new ideas in
ICT. Going forward I’m finding my interest is being drawn towards digital
tools, apps, and teacher resource websites for elementary level education.
There is always something new coming out in technology and it can be
overwhelming but having a support network of teacher friends and places to look
for new ideas online definitely helps.
Works Cited
1. Tirupathi, Andhra Pradesh. (2020). Look Up Aim High-ICT Integrated Teaching-image. Retrieved from https://hamsareddy.blogspot.com/2020/01/ict-integrated-teaching-learning-oer.html
2. 2. Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019). Leading from the Library: Help your School
Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology
in Education.
3. 3. Lynch, Matthew. (2022). 28 of the Best Apps for Kids in Kindergarten.
Retrieved from https://www.thetechedvocate.org/28-best-apps-kids-kindergarten/
Hi Charmagne,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about collaboration being an important factor for building ICT skills in schools. Thank you for sharing that video. I liked the point about personal learning networks being two-way streets, with both listening and sharing as important aspects for success.
I didnt mention it in my blog but another great aspect of this phase of the course is seeing what resources my peers are finding and posting and then being able to sift through their sifted through resources. It's the ultimate curated list! Thank you for sharing those blogs, Charmagne.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post that reflects back on your learning from phase 2 of our course. I agree with your thoughts on the importance of collaboration. I also appreciate your ideas about the importance of a PLN. I am glad that you are gaining confidence with sharing online. You have excellent ideas - they deserve to be shared with wider audiences.
ReplyDelete