mguhlin

Amping Up Your Own Learning with Online PD #learning #teaching #education #edtech

Photo by Josefa nDiaz on Unsplash

 

Want to amp up your professional learning efforts? Or, perhaps, you want to offer professional development opportunities that meet your teaching staff where they are? A Texas-based, non-profit education association offers a variety of online, self-paced courses.

Disclaimer: This post is NOT affiliated or approved by my employer. As you might guess, I work for an education non-profit assoc. I retain editorial control over all posts at Around the Corner, but I since I am an edublogger, my purpose in sharing this information about online courses is to “spread the word” to audiences that may not be traditionally reached. If you buy a course, it supports the services provided to public, private, homeschool, and college/university educators and institutions.

Please share this information in your circles from K-16 to adult learners.

A Different Offering

“I want to offer our campus teams training in Google Classroom, Level 1,etc. Can you help with that?” When I first started working on these courses (with a colleague) a few
years ago, it was in direct response to the needs of school districts. 

I remember other providers were providing online courses but they were quite expensive ($250-$500). The question or problem I wanted to solve was:

“How can we offer low-cost learning to educators who want to get information, then get on with it? That is, get on with doing whatever they needed to do.”

Fortunately, the non-profit I serve agreed (and fully supported this) that this was a worthwhile pursuit. 

Make It Short

A pursuit, however, that deviated from the way things had been done. I took a hard look at online courses and threw out a lot of it. It reminded me of the detritus a wagon train of yesteryear left in its wake. . .things unnecessary for survival and reaching your objective.

Many online courses are long affairs. They last months and months, going on forever with a million tests, quizzes, video performances, digital portfolios, and boast tracking software. I remember watching my wife struggle through some of these foisted upon her by the state education agency.

But the real challenge? What if I want to learn how to do something, then get on with doing it? 

“I just want to know what I need right now so I can get back to my real job.”

That’s what I imagined for courses like Google Classroom, Google Level 1 and 2, Screencasting for Educators. Courses that provided a short trip between start and finish while giving learners exactly what they wanted. Curated knowledge and expertise in a small package. You can see the results of that online in the participant feedback.

Quick Series of Videos

As a course developer with some experience, I know short courses don’t appeal to all. And, the fact the videos aren’t hollywood-produced, teased to perfection bug some. But I imagined that teachers working side by side in the hallway of a classroom weren’t looking for perfection, but rather, the germ of an idea they could use. 

So, many of the videos range from 6-8 minutes (I confess to cutting some of my videos from 12 minutes to multiple 6 minute videos).They are organized in five short modules with 4 components. It’s a formula that arose as a direct result of “make it short” imperative, and each features a capacity matrix (which my non-profit education association introduced me to in 2016). They were optional at first, but then participants liked them so much, they became standard in short order.

Courses Developed

No one succeeds alone. Creation is a team effort. There are editors, unseen supporters, and more. And, there’s time spent. However, I’m proud to list “my creations” below. But don’t get the wrong idea. Editors, colleagues, and many others contributed ideas to courses, so it would be foolish to say they are mine (and, well, they are “work for hire”). All disclaimers aside, here are the ones I claim:

  1. Assessment-Based Feedback
  2. Chromebook Educator
  3. Data Guardian: Cybersecurity for Educators
  4. Evidence-Based Teaching
  5. Google Certified Educator Level 1
  6. Google Certified Educator Level 2
  7. Google Certified Trainer
  8. Google Classroom
  9. Remote Learning Tools
  10. Schoology Educator
  11. Screencasting for Educators
  12. Strategies That Work, P1: Core Components
  13. Strategies That Work, P2: Surface Learning Strategies
  14. Virtual World Builder: Game-Based Learning

I have also partnered with others on courses, such as the Remote Learning Educator Certification, Jigsawing the micro:bit. I have also tweaked and contributed content for others. I am grateful to all course developers for their efforts.

STEM Courses

I love this arrangement of STEM courses one of my colleagues prepared for one department of education:

If you have interest, see links below.

See Complete Catalog of Courses

Want to learn more? Check out this list of online courses grouped according to interest. Individual courses are $39 per participant per course, or $34 for 10 or more participants. Teachers can sign up for 10 or more courses at the $34. While some may question charging for information, it takes significant time to organize, create, and/or curate content, so I see it as a worthwhile exchange for time invested.

Google Bundles

Google Courses 

Gifted and Talented Hours 

Learning Management System (LMS) Courses 

Coding/STEAM/STEM/Robotics Courses

Teacher-Librarian/Media Specialist Courses

Curriculum and Instruction Courses 

 

Digital Tools 

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

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