Ah.. summer holidays... I'm making efforts to keep them alive in my own ways rather than risk having them fade away too quickly. I suspect that you are too. But alas .. if you're like me .. you're confronting imminent plans for your future .. much of it being driven by demands from your employer.
On the chance that you may have forgotten about the Online Tutorial Project .. that I may have squeezed it out of my own future plans, let me change all of that now! In fact there have been some new developments worth sharing with you.
Reminder - my past commitment / efforts
I mentioned when I first introduced the project to you that I would provide support .. and I would do so via a blog. This would be done on themes / topics that you might be interested in referring while working on your tutorial. I expect to continue this.. but I should note that any of you can contribute to the blog too. If interested.. just contact me and I can outline for you a very basic framework to follow that will help you complete such a post easily and effectively.
I also mentioned how I would also create my own example of a tutorial that could serve as a model to you. I haven't started it .. but intend on doing that very soon. My theme / topic for my tutorial? Effective use of screen casting in an EFL context.
Link to the support blog again? http://taedtechtp.blogspot.ae
September plans
The most immediate need is to set up a Wordpress site using the template "Learn Dash" and then installing the Badges OS plugin that can be integrated with our Credly Badges account. Expect both of these items to be in place and functional by mid September. I will arrange for an online meeting / introduction of this once done. As the one who first directed our attention to this, I may invite Jessie to help present this (you've been warned Jess ;-) .
I hope to put out more support to you via at least one or two emails / blog posts. Possible themes? Realising simple engagement online, "androgogy" (adult learning) vs pedagogy", scouting for and choosing resources for your online tutorial. Got an idea for anther theme that's you believe is just as important for others to reflect upon? Go for it. The blog is set up for group posting. Having issues? Let us in on 'em and let's see how we can work together to learn how to overcome them..
New developments
We've caught the attention of BC TEAL, TESOL International and ....
- British Columbia (Canada) TEAL executive member Laura Blumenthal inquired about our open digital badges project AND the online tutorials. I have asked if she could check to see if her organisation might be interested in teaming up with us to create still more tutorials. Response was very positive.
- TESOL International is interested in learning more about how we are planning on using Open Digital Badges to promote PD
- one of our team members, Vance Stevens, suggested that we might extend our work online in the next EVO sessions (January 2015) .. and in doing so, train/invite others to create similar tutorials for the benefit of EFL instructors in all corners of the world
Inspiration
Some background on where this idea came from.
The idea of online tutorials for PD and awarding badges for such efforts comes from a variety of sources.. but the best one happens to be the work of Laura Fleming. Laura is a School Library Media specialst at New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey. Laura is one of thousands of media specialists in the USA tasked with providing training and support to educators on how to realize certain things using technology. But she did something different. She set up a very simple set of tutorials for teachers in her high school but put them all online and then used a badge system - open digital badges - to recognise and award this work by teachers. It was innocent enough. Teachers were given a set of challenges that they could read about online and in the process learn about a tech tool for use with their students in the classroom.. then share their results with one another. It happened ... but something else happened too. Those same challenges because they were online, were open to anyone and everyone. Soon she began to get questions about the challenges .. not from teachers in the school ... but from the district .. and then from all corners of the globe... so she began to accept those challenges too. She now awards badges to anyone.
You can complete some of her challenges and earn a badge today if you wish. I expect our tutorials will be a bit more extensive than what she has shared but the concept is the same.
I will look into inviting her for an online discussion to tell us more about her online tutorials .. what works and what doesn't work .. for sometime the end of September ..
Restating your commitment
If you've come this far with the reading.. it's already demonstrating a commitment to the project of sorts. However, I'm asking you to complete the following Google doc as a demonstration to others - your peers, members of TESOL Arabia and others - as to the extent of that commitment.
- your purpose in volunteering time to create such a tutorial (why you are committing already precious time and energy to this?)
- details on where you are with the planning and development of your tutorial
- current obstacles you are facing
- pleas for assistance (if any) - be specific
- where you hope to be with the project in 2 months? 4 months? etc.
You can find the document here - http://j.mp/TAEDTECH_OTproject_commitment_2014
All for now. Looking forward to realising tutorials with you.
Jim Buckingham
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.