Professional Development: Teaching in a 2.0 Classroom
1/1/2012
As we welcome 2012, Proctor's teaching faculty and professional staff prepare to engage in a professional day on January 3rd. The focus for Tuesday's professional development workshops center around the integration of technology in the classroom.
Proctor is incredibly fortunate to welcome Will Richardson to campus Tuesday where he will address the intersection of social online learning networks and education.
As a former public school educator for twenty-two years and having spent the last ten years writing for his blog, Weblogg-ed.com, Ed Leadership, Education Week, and English-Journal, Richardson describes himself as, "an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of the diverse new learning opportunities that the web and other technologies now offer."
Richardson's Ted Talk outlines some of his thoughts on technology and education, mainly looking at how schools can adjust to a changing landscape of learning in a 2.0, technology based world and move from 'test prep' to 'life prep'.
Richardson's message of a need for change in the educational system will hopefully affirm many practices in our classrooms, while also challenging us to think differently and embrace the technologies available to us as educators.
Following Richardson's address to the community, faculty will convene in small groups to discuss various technologies that have enhanced teaching at Proctor over the past few years.
Workshops exploring the use of iPads, Smartboards, googledocs, online presentation tools, use of wiki's, and others will be led by teachers who have successfully implemented the various strategies in their own classrooms.
The quote below from Eric Hoffer highlighted by Richardson in his TED Talk speaks directly to the challenge that lies before Proctor as an educational institution. The time spent as a teaching community wresting with this issue will help us, as educators, continue to embrace the ever-changing landscape of learning in the 21st century.
"In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."
Combining the keynote address of Will Richardson with faculty-led small group discussions, the teaching community will explore what it means to teach and learn in a 2.0 world.
Past professional development days have left a lasting impact on the evolution of teaching practices utilized in the community.
As Proctor embraces the challenges that come with an ever-changing educational landscape, better understanding the teaching opportunities available through collaborative technologies is a necessary task.
We are thankful for the opportunity to spend a day listening, learning, and implementing skills that will make us more effective teachers for our students.
