Session 9
This podcast comes at a great time, I just returned from the CUE conference in Palm Springs where I dedicated three whole days to Professional Development training. I can easily state that some of the workshops were very beneficial and some I walked out thinking, I could have done that.
Trainings are very expensive and time consuming and I think that is why so many teachers or people in general have a hard time pulling themselves into workshops and conferences. A few bad experiences can really discourage people from going back.
One of the most positive trainings that I have been to and this is not because I am a Discovery Educator, was the unitedstreaming workshop hosted at my district office a couple of years ago. Our district purchased a license from Unitedstreaming and we signed up from each school to go to the main workshop where we would then train teachers at our school site later. I was so impressed with how the presentation was set up. Example: the speaker was enthusiastic, funny, entertaining, and knowledgeable. I feel that sometimes as a teacher, I have to be those things to keep my students attention, so why shouldn't trainers be that way as well. So that was a positive note. As well as the fact that the speaker touch on real school-life situations, and help us see how using this product is easy and beneficial to the students. She is a former teacher herself, so she was understanding to the fact that many teacher go away from the idea that they have to learn something new because it takes up so much time. So she broke it down to how we would train the teachers- no using big technology words that no one knew and by being honest. She allowed us sometime to try it out for ourselves on the computer before moving on. This is great because it allowed us to get a hands-on training as well. I enjoyed this mainly because I learn better when I can play with something and for the fact that if we did something wrong or we didn't understand, we were able to ask questions to the experts that were right there. The Professional Development continued, but this is still my most exciting and interactive training I have ever been to.
As I stated before, I attend the CUE conference not to long ago, and I was very impressed at some of the workshops because of how the presenter presented. However, I did attend one that sticks out in my mind as being a not, so good presentation and it is because the presented didn't really seem to be prepared, they were not loud enough that everyone could hear and what they were demonstrating really was an extra in my eyes. I love to learn about how to use new technologies in the classroom, but this particular workshop was more about fluff that something really needed. It was a workshop on integrating Flash Media into PowerPoint's. I use PowerPoint's all the time and I love Flash Media, but she took it to another extreme. It was almost too much to where I think the students would be lost as to what you want them to know. I think that most of my students would concentrating so much on the Flash that they wouldn't pay attention to the content on the PowerPoint. I was hoping that she would demonstrate more of how to created the Flash Media into the PPT, and less on showing us what she has done. It was almost like a "Show Me" workshop where she was looking for kudos on her wonderful talent. I would suggest to her to show the teachers how you did it, how you got the students to learn it and any tricks to teaching the younger students, and how much time should one need in order to do this. So needless to say after watching her sixth PowerPoint, I left. I know what PowerPoint's look like...lets move on.
I agree totally with Dr. Newberry, trainings are costly and time consuming and not always worthwhile. So I say to have a great training, you really need an organized, enthusiastic, fun, knowledge presented who is prepared to answer a series of questions.
Activity Log:
I have been interviewing two people about the benefits of using a thin client system for my Project 3 which I will be submitting later. I am typing up my final "mock" proposal for my project and trying to gather as much information as I need to make it sound very convincing. I will be posting blogs on three or more people pages later this week as well.
This podcast comes at a great time, I just returned from the CUE conference in Palm Springs where I dedicated three whole days to Professional Development training. I can easily state that some of the workshops were very beneficial and some I walked out thinking, I could have done that.
Trainings are very expensive and time consuming and I think that is why so many teachers or people in general have a hard time pulling themselves into workshops and conferences. A few bad experiences can really discourage people from going back.
One of the most positive trainings that I have been to and this is not because I am a Discovery Educator, was the unitedstreaming workshop hosted at my district office a couple of years ago. Our district purchased a license from Unitedstreaming and we signed up from each school to go to the main workshop where we would then train teachers at our school site later. I was so impressed with how the presentation was set up. Example: the speaker was enthusiastic, funny, entertaining, and knowledgeable. I feel that sometimes as a teacher, I have to be those things to keep my students attention, so why shouldn't trainers be that way as well. So that was a positive note. As well as the fact that the speaker touch on real school-life situations, and help us see how using this product is easy and beneficial to the students. She is a former teacher herself, so she was understanding to the fact that many teacher go away from the idea that they have to learn something new because it takes up so much time. So she broke it down to how we would train the teachers- no using big technology words that no one knew and by being honest. She allowed us sometime to try it out for ourselves on the computer before moving on. This is great because it allowed us to get a hands-on training as well. I enjoyed this mainly because I learn better when I can play with something and for the fact that if we did something wrong or we didn't understand, we were able to ask questions to the experts that were right there. The Professional Development continued, but this is still my most exciting and interactive training I have ever been to.
As I stated before, I attend the CUE conference not to long ago, and I was very impressed at some of the workshops because of how the presenter presented. However, I did attend one that sticks out in my mind as being a not, so good presentation and it is because the presented didn't really seem to be prepared, they were not loud enough that everyone could hear and what they were demonstrating really was an extra in my eyes. I love to learn about how to use new technologies in the classroom, but this particular workshop was more about fluff that something really needed. It was a workshop on integrating Flash Media into PowerPoint's. I use PowerPoint's all the time and I love Flash Media, but she took it to another extreme. It was almost too much to where I think the students would be lost as to what you want them to know. I think that most of my students would concentrating so much on the Flash that they wouldn't pay attention to the content on the PowerPoint. I was hoping that she would demonstrate more of how to created the Flash Media into the PPT, and less on showing us what she has done. It was almost like a "Show Me" workshop where she was looking for kudos on her wonderful talent. I would suggest to her to show the teachers how you did it, how you got the students to learn it and any tricks to teaching the younger students, and how much time should one need in order to do this. So needless to say after watching her sixth PowerPoint, I left. I know what PowerPoint's look like...lets move on.
I agree totally with Dr. Newberry, trainings are costly and time consuming and not always worthwhile. So I say to have a great training, you really need an organized, enthusiastic, fun, knowledge presented who is prepared to answer a series of questions.
Activity Log:
I have been interviewing two people about the benefits of using a thin client system for my Project 3 which I will be submitting later. I am typing up my final "mock" proposal for my project and trying to gather as much information as I need to make it sound very convincing. I will be posting blogs on three or more people pages later this week as well.
posted by Jennie O'Kelley @ 6:55 AM
5 Comments:
At 4:59 AM,
James said…
Jennie,
Great examples of both the good and the bad. I agree with you that the presenters at professional development workshops need to be prepared and entertaining, but at the same time need to present information that will be useful. If all they are up there doing is showing off what they have already worked on, the presentation may not be suitable for everyone. Some people look to professional development as a way to learn how to improve their teaching skills, not see what others have done in their field. Glad to hear that you thought some of the workshops at CUE were beneficial.
James
At 10:13 AM,
De Nguyen Blog said…
Hi Jennie,
I can imagine that spend three long days for training is a lot of time. Especially, sitting there to see many PowerPoint’s presentations can be boring. As you described, it can also be a negative experience for making decision to attend the future professional developments.
The presenting, organization, and topic are some of the important factors. The presenter must be well prepared, if the audients are bored or lose interest, the session is a failure. Not anyone can put together a good training session.
Great information on your experience of the conference you attended.
De Nguyen
At 10:14 PM,
Brian said…
Jennie,
I was really impressed with the open-source pavaillion and the thin-client kiosks in particular. I look forward to seeing you completed project.
I also look forward to seeing you again a the EdTech Conference later this month in Ontario!
-Brian
At 1:18 PM,
Coach lynn said…
Back in November, I attended the math conference at Palm Springs where I experienced what you stated: There were some presenters who seemd to be there to show us what they know, while some were there to assist teachers in their quest to be able to better present to their students. I found the presents that were enthusiastic about what they did to be the most helpful. One in particular, was presenting a puzzle. She explained the objective clearly and allowed us to attempt the puzzle. Only after most of us failed did she show us why we were not successful. Most in attendance discussed how beneficial this would be in a classroom where student were to self-discover.
At 4:21 PM,
RFLORES said…
Hello Jennie,
I really appreciated your examples of good and bad professional development. It is also true that the instructors need to be funny, enthusiastic and knowledgeable so as to prevent teachers attending from either become confused of from falling asleep. Teaching is an art; it is more than just standing in front of people and explaining something in a dry tone.
Therefore, the instructor must be resourceful, dynamic and must grab the audience's interest in the subject. Of course, the same guidelines apply when we enter our classrooms and teach. Good job Jennie!
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