Asynchronous Learning for Teachers

          With the exception of their own lessons, the resources my learners need to successfully complete each module are housed within the course in Google Classroom. Learners will complete and submit each assignment in Google Classroom.  While the modules are self-paced and fall on completely online on the continuum outlined by Bates (2015), I set a deadline for turning assignments so I could award them PD credit in a timely manner. Most teachers do not like to simply complete arbitrary assignments that they will soon forget in order to earn their professional development credits. The most engaging professional learning courses for me have been the ones in which the end product of the course was something I could take back to my class and use immediately.

        My overarching goal for this course is to give my learners the opportunity to use their own curriculum to complete some of the assignments. Most of the modules have a tutorial assignment to familiarize learners with the app, followed by another assignment that requires them to utilize their skills to digitize one of their lessons.  This piece, I believe, is the key to making the modules in Digital Learning Workshop more meaningful to my learners. They will learn new skills while building lessons and activities that they can take back to their classrooms and teach, as well as share with their fellow content teachers. My learners are much more likely to engage with the assignments in each module if they get  to experience the ways that the tools and apps taught within Google Classroom can apply to their subject areas.  I also planned some collaborative pieces, such as the lesson share Padlet and the Flipgrid reflections.  My hope is that these collaborative reflections will inspire conversations among content teachers that will lead to more lesson sharing and more consistent curriculum delivery.  

      As more OERs become available to learners, I envision the role of the teacher as more of a facilitator (Bates, 2015).  I think school districts need to look into the possibility of starting an online school in order to relieve some of the burden currently placed on most of our teachers. Since virtual teaching is most likely here to stay, it makes sense to open a school that houses the virtual teaching format. Virtual students deserve to have teachers who understand the ins and outs of virtual teaching and can provide a much more robust online curriculum. As one who must teach virtually as well as face to face, I have learned that it is difficult to cater to both face-to-face students and virtual students at the same time. In order to streamline lesson planning, I have designed most of my lessons to cater to  my virtual students. However, my f2f students have really appreciated the shorter lectures and longer work time in class. 

Bates, A.W. (2015) Teaching in a Digital Age: Guidelines for designing teaching and learning (Chapters 8-10). Retrieved from

https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/