Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Loading our Technology Toolbelt

Tool Beltphoto © 2009 George Martin | more info (via: Wylio)
Today we had our first (mostly) librarian led technology professional development training. This idea was discussed at our district librarian meeting and two of us volunteered to assist in teaching a district-wide class on web 2.0 tools. Our goal was to expose our teachers to several different web tools that were free and not blocked by internet filters. A few of us met to choose which tools we would feature for this first event. We wanted something that would appeal to many grade levels and tech ability levels. We decided on four sessions: Glogster, Prezi, cameras and quiz and polling tools. We had almost seventy teachers sign up and attend. I am very pleased with the turn out.
I taught the session on quiz and polling tools. I showed the teachers how to create a quiz on Google Forms and the sites Proprofs, That Quiz and Survey Monkey. I featured two mobile study tools on the presentation, Quizlet and Study Boost. I shared a few apps with them and blog/website polling sites as well. The Glogster and Prezi sessions showed the basics for the sites and allowed them time to sign up for an account and begin exploring how to use each tool. During the camera session the teachers were shown the Hue HD webcam and Flip camera. The presenters gave them ideas on how to use each tool in the classroom and then saved time for the teachers to play with each device.
Several teachers thanked us for the information and were excited to learn so much and try the tools out at school. I overheard a few comments that they felt overwhelmed with so much information. We knew this might be an issue but we wanted to make the two hours worthwhile and give the teachers many tools to choose from. We hope to have another similar session in the future. I am still thinking about what tools we should share next time.
What tools do you feel would be the best when you are trying to appeal to K-12 teachers?

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