So where I thought I would start is taking each one of the elements shared in the "8 Things", and try to share an idea that focuses on one of the elements specifically, but obviously, each idea can have multiple elements.
Here is each element with the corresponding letters to identify them in each activity.
Voice (V), Choice (C) , Connected Learning (CL), Problem-Finders/Solvers (PFS), Reflection (R) , Self-Assessment (SA), Critical Thinking (CT), Opportunities for Innovation (INNO)
Below is each element, with the rationale on why it is important, and then one or two ideas, that could be large or small, and not necessarily delivered on a typical professional development day
Recordings of 11 webinars offered by NCAT in 2013 and 2014 are available below. Each features an NCAT Redesign Scholar, the project leader of a highly successful course redesign, describing the redesign project with a particular focus on its distinguishing characteristics. "
"Questions of quality in repositories of open educational resources: a literature review" Javiera Atenasa,b* and Leo Havemannc
Abstract
Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials which are freely available and openly licensed. Repositories of OER (ROER) are platforms that host and facilitate access to these resources. ROER should not just be designed to store this content - in keeping with the aims of the OER movement, they should support educators in embracing open educational practices (OEP) such as searching for and retrieving content that they will reuse, adapt or modify as needed, without economic barriers or copyright restrictions. This paper reviews key literature on OER and ROER, in order to understand the roles ROER are said or supposed to fulfil in relation to furthering the aims of the OER movement. Four themes which should shape repository design are identified, and the following 10 quality indicators (QI) for ROER effectiveness are discussed: featured resources; user evaluation tools; peer review; authorship of the resources; keywords of the resources; use of standardised metadata; multilingualism of the repositories; inclusion of social media tools; specification of the creative commons license; availability of the source code or original files. These QI form the basis of a method for the evaluation of ROER initiatives which, in concert with considerations of achievability and long-term sustainability, should assist in enhancement and development.
Keywords: open educational resources; open access; open educational practice; repositories; quality assurance
"
Research Questions
1. What are educators' perceptions and reported behaviors associated with participation in
informal, online professional development networks?
1.a. What motivates educators to participate in informal professional development networks?
1.b. What types of informal professional development networks do educators report they use to connect with other educators to enhance their practice?
1.c. What specific informal professional development networks do educators report they find most useful in order to improve their practice?
2. Do educators' perceptions and reported behaviors associated with informal professional development networks differ
based on current assignment, years in education, or age? "
The academically peer refereed Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects (IJELLO) - formerly Interdisciplinary Journal of Knowledge and Learning Objects - endeavors to provide readers around the world with the widest possible coverage of developments in E-Learning and Learning Objects, as shown in our mission statement. . IJELLO is an interdisciplinary forum that publishes high quality articles on theory, practice, innovation, and research that cover all aspects of E-Learning and Learning Objects.
Teaching Channel is a video showcase-on the Internet and TV-of inspiring and effective teaching practices in America's schools. We have a rapidly growing community of registered members who trade ideas and share inspiration from each other.
With the help of the Tch community, our mission is to revolutionize how teachers learn, connect, and inspire each other to improve the outcomes for all K-12 students across America.
In order to accomplish this mission, we have three simple goals, all of them reliant on input from teachers:
* Build professional learning resources that teachers want
* Deepen and improve opportunities for teacher learning
* Elevate and celebrate teachers in our society
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Our videos are produced by a unique team of professionals-a collaborative effort between video production experts, education advisors, and the classroom teachers themselves. We should point out that Teaching Channel does not determine or influence the content taught in our videos.
Our video library offers educators a wide range of subjects for grades K-12. The videos also include information on alignment with Common Core State Standards and ancillary material for teachers to use in their own classrooms.
Teaching Channel Presents, a weekly one-hour program featuring Tch videos, airs on PBS stations in nearly 75 million homes across the United States.
A non-profit organization, Teaching Channel launched publicly in June 2011."
1 page overview of the project
What are Open Educational Resources?
Why are they important?
How would a school use OER?
What will the OER Project do?
How do OER relate to Common Core?
"Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that
reside in the public domain or
have been released under an open license. These resources may be used
free of charge
,
distributed without
restriction
, and
modified without permission.
In 2012, the Washington State Legislature passed
Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 2337
that directed
the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to create a
collection of openly licensed courseware
aligned with the
Common Core State Standards
(CCSS)
and
conduct
an awareness campaign to inform
school di
stricts about these resources. The Legislature saw this as an opportunity to both "reduce the
expenses that districts would otherwise incur in purchasing these materials" and "provide districts and
students with a broader selection of materials, and materi
als that are more up
-
to
-
date."
As a part
of th
is
legislative mandate
,
OSPI conducted a review of OER
in high school mathematics
and
English Language Arts (ELA) that built on the work of the
2013
WA OER R
eview
. Teams evaluated full
-
course
Geometry/Integrated Math 2 and units in
9
th
-
10
th
grade ELA. In addition, an OER Algebra 1 course
unavailable for review in 2013 was examined.
The review process, conducted durin
g
February and March
,
201
4
, made use of existing
review instruments
designed to gauge alignment with the
C
CSS
and
overall OER
quality
.
Minor revisions to the
2013
process were informed by feedback from the first cohort of reviewers.
The results from this
r
eview
enable
educators and content developers
to
tap into the most powerful feature
of OER
:
the ability to freely adapt and redistribute materials
."
"Guidelines for Professional
Development of Online Teachers
Based on the SREB
Standards for Quality Online Teaching
Providing quality professional development for online teachers is extremely important to
ensure ongoing quality teaching and learning - just as it is for teachers in traditional
classrooms. The professional development of online teachers should be well-planned and
organized to meet the specific academic and instructional needs of online teachers."