Standard 6.1 Continuous Learning
Candidates demonstrate continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies and apply them to improve personal productivity and professional practice. (PSC 6.1/ISTE 6a, 6b)
Artifact: ISTE 2014
Reflection:
The artifact that I would like to present as mastery of the standard 6.1 continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies, is my recent visit to the overwhelming ISTEconference held in Atlanta. I went to this conference with another teacher from my school to attend sessions, to visit vendors, to network, and to view as many poster sessions as my brain could handle.
Before I attend conferences of any kind I review my goals for the upcoming year and try to make as many sessions as possible that support the learning I feel I will need to meet them. Before I attended this conference, I downloaded the ISTE iPad application and made a schedule. I also try to include some free time into my schedule to allow time for things I did not expect, like new learning opportunities. For this ISTE conference, I wanted to focus on learning as much as I could about Makerspaces in school and public libraries and I also wanted to attend all sessions for library media specialist on the schedule.
Makespaces are a new phenomenon occurring all over the world and my interest in them has piqued over the last couple of months. I’ve seen many blogs and articles in my subscriptions and I wanted to hear more from active participants. It is always nice to be able to directly ask questions to the people that have knowledge in new areas. This is what makes attending conferences so worthwhile for my continued learning. I attended several sessions and several poster sessions on Makerspaces.
Along with the Makerspaces learning I also attended several library media specialist sessions and learned a great deal about what others are currently doing in their libraries around the world. One session that I really enjoyed and will take back to my teachers is using Google Hangouts to record your class instruction. The presenter called it “Rewind Learning,” a nifty new term that will help me with my teachers who are struggling with the concept of flip learning. When pre planning begins I will put together professional development sessions and will definitely add a session on Google Hangouts.
I also got to do a great deal of networking at conferences. Networking with vendors and networking with peers in my field outside of my system. Meeting these individuals has also contributed to my continual growth in my field and instructional technology. Visiting the vendors I learned about numerous new technologies that are being used in education. I brought several brochures back to department heads at my school that I feel they need to know about and would love to use. Networking with peers in my field is my favorite part. I am such a fan online of many media specialist around the globe and to meet them in person and pick their brains is always exciting.
Conferences are awesome for continual learning and every time I go to one I learn a great deal of information that at times is just awe inspiring. In the past, I learned when I go to stay focused on the goals I have chosen and also to just let the learning happen. Many times I have become stressed at the potential for learning and the information just starts to become engulfing. I try to stay organized and I create curated pages to include the information from the sessions I’ve attended for reflection. At this ISTE conference, which was my first ISTE, I learned that this conference is huge and crowded. Next time I will anticipate that and plan accordingly. I do not want to miss any sessions because they are full and while the crowds maybe daunting, moving to the front of the line at the poster sessions increases your success to really learn from the experts.
This artifact will impact school improvement, faculty development, and student learning. The new technologies and practices I acquired at this conference will be used in our upcoming Makerspace which will impact our school improvement plan and our student learning. It will be measured through observation and the projects students create. Faculty development will be impacted in the professional development sessions that are created from the sessions I attended.
The artifact that I would like to present as mastery of the standard 6.1 continual growth in knowledge and skills of current and emerging technologies, is my recent visit to the overwhelming ISTEconference held in Atlanta. I went to this conference with another teacher from my school to attend sessions, to visit vendors, to network, and to view as many poster sessions as my brain could handle.
Before I attend conferences of any kind I review my goals for the upcoming year and try to make as many sessions as possible that support the learning I feel I will need to meet them. Before I attended this conference, I downloaded the ISTE iPad application and made a schedule. I also try to include some free time into my schedule to allow time for things I did not expect, like new learning opportunities. For this ISTE conference, I wanted to focus on learning as much as I could about Makerspaces in school and public libraries and I also wanted to attend all sessions for library media specialist on the schedule.
Makespaces are a new phenomenon occurring all over the world and my interest in them has piqued over the last couple of months. I’ve seen many blogs and articles in my subscriptions and I wanted to hear more from active participants. It is always nice to be able to directly ask questions to the people that have knowledge in new areas. This is what makes attending conferences so worthwhile for my continued learning. I attended several sessions and several poster sessions on Makerspaces.
Along with the Makerspaces learning I also attended several library media specialist sessions and learned a great deal about what others are currently doing in their libraries around the world. One session that I really enjoyed and will take back to my teachers is using Google Hangouts to record your class instruction. The presenter called it “Rewind Learning,” a nifty new term that will help me with my teachers who are struggling with the concept of flip learning. When pre planning begins I will put together professional development sessions and will definitely add a session on Google Hangouts.
I also got to do a great deal of networking at conferences. Networking with vendors and networking with peers in my field outside of my system. Meeting these individuals has also contributed to my continual growth in my field and instructional technology. Visiting the vendors I learned about numerous new technologies that are being used in education. I brought several brochures back to department heads at my school that I feel they need to know about and would love to use. Networking with peers in my field is my favorite part. I am such a fan online of many media specialist around the globe and to meet them in person and pick their brains is always exciting.
Conferences are awesome for continual learning and every time I go to one I learn a great deal of information that at times is just awe inspiring. In the past, I learned when I go to stay focused on the goals I have chosen and also to just let the learning happen. Many times I have become stressed at the potential for learning and the information just starts to become engulfing. I try to stay organized and I create curated pages to include the information from the sessions I’ve attended for reflection. At this ISTE conference, which was my first ISTE, I learned that this conference is huge and crowded. Next time I will anticipate that and plan accordingly. I do not want to miss any sessions because they are full and while the crowds maybe daunting, moving to the front of the line at the poster sessions increases your success to really learn from the experts.
This artifact will impact school improvement, faculty development, and student learning. The new technologies and practices I acquired at this conference will be used in our upcoming Makerspace which will impact our school improvement plan and our student learning. It will be measured through observation and the projects students create. Faculty development will be impacted in the professional development sessions that are created from the sessions I attended.