Standard 6.1
Continuous learning actually takes place every Wednesday for me and Moody High School Faculty. The professional development that I am reflecting on is one that I attended in July of 2014. During this professional development teachers from St. Clair County were learning about the new online learning platform that St. Clair County Schools had recently purchased. This technology conference was voluntary and could be used as a swap day for the upcoming school year. The new online leaning platform is called My Big Campus. During this session teachers would learn how to use My Big Campus properly in their classrooms.
With this new online platform St. Clair County’s technology department and the board of education wanted to change the way that we teach our students in our school. The goal was to go from the traditional stand up lecture to a more project based student centered learning environment. This was a task for a lot of teachers in the system, because of how they have been teaching for years. I was able to learn a new platform and take from what I know about previous platform like blackboard. This was nothing new to me, but it was interesting to see how other platforms work and why they are used at different levels. This platform is perfect for high school students and really easy to use. It is also very simple for teachers to use because of all of the resources that it already has on it. From this session I was able to get ideas about using the discussion board part of the platform. Like in college courses, the discussion board was beneficial to me because of the critical thinking skills needed in my class. This emerging technology was very new to me but he way I would use it is nothing new to me. Since this professional development I have fell in love with this platform. I use it two to three days in the week, which gives me a blended learning atmosphere.
I learned a great deal from this professional development opportunity given to me the school system. I was impressed with all of the capabilities of My Big Campus and how it can be used in the classroom. I also learned the most platforms are the same, just different names and colors. They all do the same thing which makes it easy to go from to another. I would ask more questions about using the school work section of the platform to make assessments. It is really difficult to use this part to make assessments. I would like to see the ability to upload test to take online. I think that this was a great opportunity and will make sure that I will attend this development again this summer.
With this new online platform St. Clair County’s technology department and the board of education wanted to change the way that we teach our students in our school. The goal was to go from the traditional stand up lecture to a more project based student centered learning environment. This was a task for a lot of teachers in the system, because of how they have been teaching for years. I was able to learn a new platform and take from what I know about previous platform like blackboard. This was nothing new to me, but it was interesting to see how other platforms work and why they are used at different levels. This platform is perfect for high school students and really easy to use. It is also very simple for teachers to use because of all of the resources that it already has on it. From this session I was able to get ideas about using the discussion board part of the platform. Like in college courses, the discussion board was beneficial to me because of the critical thinking skills needed in my class. This emerging technology was very new to me but he way I would use it is nothing new to me. Since this professional development I have fell in love with this platform. I use it two to three days in the week, which gives me a blended learning atmosphere.
I learned a great deal from this professional development opportunity given to me the school system. I was impressed with all of the capabilities of My Big Campus and how it can be used in the classroom. I also learned the most platforms are the same, just different names and colors. They all do the same thing which makes it easy to go from to another. I would ask more questions about using the school work section of the platform to make assessments. It is really difficult to use this part to make assessments. I would like to see the ability to upload test to take online. I think that this was a great opportunity and will make sure that I will attend this development again this summer.