As I have said many times, this pandemic has permanently altered the face of education. Teachers and administrators alike have had to rethink everything they know about lesson delivery and content mastery. While some have embraced the change and are moving forward at full steam, others are still struggling with the technology tools that have become a requirement. I am sure that higher education institutions are adjusting their instruction to help future teachers incorporate these digital learning tools into their lesson plans; however, there is still a bit of a learning gap. For this reason, I have chosen to develop professional learning modules using an experiential approach. My main goal for this workshop is for teachers to create lessons that they can take back to their classrooms for immediate use. My thinking is that I don't want this PL to be "one more thing" they have to do; rather I want teachers to experience using various Google apps and add-ons, and seeing how these apps can be applied to their content.
Learners will have to submit their projects and will be assessed based on a rubric, which will lay out all of the required elements. Since I fully intend to use this online course as professional development, I am hoping that my learners will be able to earn PD credits once they successfully complete each module. Although I plan to have a Google meet to kick off the workshop, this course be self-paced course that learners can work through on their own time. This will, in theory, reduce the cognitive overload that can happen during traditional lectures or PLs. I know I have felt at times like I was being fed information through a fire hose, so-to- speak. That is never fun, and I rarely walk away from those PLs remembering anything useful. I want my learners to enjoy building lessons that will work for their virtual students as well as their face-to-face students, so they will be more apt to embrace digital learning and the richness it can provide to all students. Furthermore, by modeling an online learning environment, I feel that my learners will see that there a variety of ways to deliver curriculum and see the value in redesigning their lessons to meet the needs of all of students,
One piece I will be incorporating into the modules is reflection. I strongly believe that a great educator engages in reflective practice, which helps self-evaluate and refine teaching skills. By having my learners reflect on their learning as well as the execution of their lessons, I will be able to only refine the existing modules in the digital workshop, but also help me plan for further learning on my campus. Another important piece to online learning, in my opinion, is collaboration. As humans, most of us need interaction with others. Sharing lessons with one another is a great way to collaborate and get feedback. Furthermore, having a partner or a group of people who are working on similar content is a great way to "work smarter, not harder." Under ideal circumstances, I envision content teachers trading lessons that they have created, so that teachers can have a digital database to pull from as needed. This is the reason that I will be including a padlet for teachers to post the lessons they create.
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