Here's how you can empower your colleagues to use educational technology for productivity.

Before diving into the vast sea of educational technology, it's essential to assess the specific needs of your colleagues. ?? Engage with Colleagues: Understand their daily challenges and areas where they feel technology could streamline their workflow. ?? Identify Pain Points: Determine whether the needs are related to grading, lesson planning, student engagement, or other areas. ??? Tailored Solutions: Identifying the right tools starts with a clear picture of the problems that need solving, ensuring the technology adopted fits the intended purpose. ?? Enhance Productivity: This tailored approach ensures that the technology enhances productivity efficiently.

I once encountered a teacher who believed that integrating technology into the classroom was as simple as snapping one's fingers. I told them it’s almost like that, but it requires effort. The key is having access to the most effective tools, which can perform essential tasks like grading, lesson planning, and student engagement seamlessly and at no cost. For this, I highly recommend Google Classroom paired with Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals. Teachers who start their journey in a blended learning environment thrive, and as their needs evolve, the knowledge they gain along the way empowers them to meet those new challenges.

If the world were to face another pandemic today, learning wouldn’t come to a halt as it did for many schools in 2020. While numerous tools are available, teachers don’t need just any tool—they need the safest, most secure, and interactive options. For me, an LMS that ensures students learn in secure digital environments is essential. Parents and teachers often worry about online safety, but it's not about building walls around systems. It's about making learning secure within the global digital ecosystem, protecting the privacy of students, parents, and educators. Additionally, it's crucial that the devices used are the most secure available.

Honestly, sharing has been crucial in motivating others in the Edtech space. If technology has streamlined your work, why wouldn’t you share it? This encourages those who doubt its effectiveness to give it a try. During our professional development training sessions, we always ask educators for feedback after they've applied these tools in their classrooms. We’re not just interested in successes—we want to hear about the challenges, too. That’s where we step in to help them achieve more with the tools they have. LinkedIn, in particular, has become a vibrant community where educators share their Edtech successes, and this exchange of experiences has been incredibly encouraging and fulfilling.

One of the things I did to support showcasing the vast pockets of knowledge in my online school was to host a noon-hour Lunch & Learn series this spring. I kicked it off with a 15-min chat about an app I was using that not only saved me time grading but also offered more specific formative feedback for my English students. I invited others I knew that had some tool tricks, practices, or insights to host other 15-min sessions. It was a hit! Lots of attendance and actually lots of volunteers to showcase what they were doing and why. Looking forward to setting up the next series for our fall semester.

This is now part of my role for the fall term! When ChatGPT was released in Nov 22, I did a deep dive into what it is and how to wrangle it in my practice. My admin team saw me helping out colleagues and advocating for our online school to get out ahead of GenAI with things like an academic integrity policy and bespoke digital/AI literacy units embedded in our courses. Because I work in an online, asynchronous space, there aren't many PD opportunities available to build AI literacy skills for staff or students...yet. This has led to the AI lead role in my overall teaching assignment where I'll be designing training for staff and students, as well as presenting @ conferences where I can. I appreciate my admin letting me experiment & lead.

Engagement is one of the biggest challenges in my online, asynchronous courses. Intentionally teaching students when and where to effectively use AI AND having them reflect on that usage has been useful in getting them to engage in the course content and activities. Using tools like Leon Furze's AI Usage Scale, and teaching that to the students, has also reduced the number of academic integrity issues I had to deal with last term. It was also surprising to see the number of students who didn't want to use AI in their assignments because they were worried about losing THEIR voice and hobbling THEIR personal development. I'm eager to test drive tools like ThingLink to increase engagement & autonomy in learning.

I do this all the time! I follow a select group of leaders in the field and pass that along to my colleagues. I keep a Google Sheet that I have also shared out with all the rabbit holes I've gone down. :) Rather than overwhelming them with the dozens of links, I tend to share out (usually via email) one or two gems I find pertinent for our school's reality. I constantly have colleagues asking for links or ideas for whatever they are trying to do, so it's handy to have the Google Sheet I can direct them to. I'll also be offering some webinars and workshops in the fall to help narrow down the firehose of content for them.

A tecnologia educacional oferece um vasto leque de ferramentas e recursos que podem transformar o ensino e a aprendizagem, otimizando o tempo e aprimorando a produtividade de professores e alunos. No entanto, para aproveitar ao máximo esse potencial, é fundamental capacitar seus colegas para utilizar essas ferramentas de forma eficaz.