I'm pretty nerdy excited about the course I am in right now (EDLD 5318). My team at work built a course in our LMS (we use Canvas) about how to use our LMS to build some blended and/or online PD opportunities for teachers. Although our LMS training was intense when it was first introduced 7 years ago in our district, each year results in less and less deliberate training. Add to this that primarily only classroom teachers received training as well as district shuffles and turnover, and we have administrators who aren't very familiar with the platform and instructional coaches/specialists who may have never used it.
This summer there was a push for every district level content team to deliver an online professional learning course for their content area which led to the creation of the course I mentioned above. Is it a good course? I don't know that I know. That's where this course comes in. I think it is going to help my team make edits and adjustments and turn it into a much better professional learning course. A quick look at the OSCQR standards already has me thinking of some of the missing pieces, whether its part of the design or even some needed citations. One of the goals with the course was to test it with a smaller group of professionals before scaling it up to become part of our new teacher week. The teachers new to the district are presented with a very brief introduction to the district's LMS and then do a lot of figuring it out on their own. If we can have an online course resource to provide the help they need, when they need it, in a collaborative environment, there'd be less "just trying to figure it out" and more purposeful utilization.
Since the thoughts of "just figure it out" are in my head, I went back to my eportfolio to reread my learning philosophy thoughts and evaluate if I am still in the same place. Several courses ago I realized that I am a bit of a mash-up of a few theories. The constructivist theory makes up the bulk of my personal learning philosophy. I rely on cognition to organize, store, and recall information while making connections and processing the new in its rightful place in my brain storage system. Then there is a sprinkling of behaviorism. The memorization. The rote repetition usually reserved for the things that aren't necessarily "fun" but are often needed. Very basic information that helps me work through the more challenging topics more efficiently. I think I am still in the same place learning philosophy wise. I believe I should have some conversations with the rest of my team to see if we are all on similar pages or if we vary. Understanding that will help guide us as we make improvements to our online course. Understanding ourselves and our team mates will also help us build better resources for teachers.
Want to check out more? Here are my planning thoughts and a link to where a copy of my e-course will live.
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