If you're a middle grades science teacher in a Georgia public school, how might pursuing the 14 quests of TOOL's Navigate Skill be of benefit to you? Ultimately, you have to decide this. But, we've come up with a few ideas for ways in which this Skill's content relates to the work you do in your face-to-face (f2f) classrooms.
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As your face-to-face classes increasingly incorporate technology-enhanced activities, you open up your classroom to new affordances/possibilities. Consider the following:
Learning Afforded Via Asynchronous and Synchronous Technologies. Technology may allow for the extension of learning beyond the school day. How might asynchronous discussion boards give voice to your normally-quiet students? To what extent are synchronous technologies useful in the blended face-to-face classroom?
Taking a Closer Look at Synchronous Technology Use in Your Context. Most interactions in your school take place AT school, synchronously. But, can you think of ways in which your use of a synchronous meeting tool, such as BlackBoard Communicate, could enhance some of the work you do? Do you ever have times when you need to meet with parents, but they cannot get to the school, yet you know that many of these parents have smartphones (and smartphones can run synch-meeting apps)? Could BBC (or other such tools) be used to open up communication?
New Roles and Opportunities in Managing the Learning Landscape in Your District. Bringing online and blended technologies into your school/district changes some of the dynamics of who performs roles. And, as you know, Cobb is moving in this direction. What kind of a voice do you want to have in the shape of things? What new roles are emerging as a result of the rise of blended/online learning? And where do you (want to) fit in?
Decisions About What Tools and Resources Your District Should Adopt. As you know, there are gazillions of tools and resources at your disposal now. How can a teacher manage it all? One way schools/districts manage is they appoint folks among their ranks to help make decisions about what tools and resources the district wants to purchase. You may have the opportunity to serve in such a role. A role that allows you to make decisions about what software or content to use in your classroom (as well as others' classrooms). Do you go with commercial options or free/open-source options? What are the benefits and drawbacks of each?
How Would You Use an LMS with Your Students, if at all? Should you use a Learning Management System (LMS) to expand your classroom teaching? In Cobb County, you all have access to the BlackBoard LMS. In nearby Forsyth County, all face-to-face courses have an online component in the ITsLearning LMS. Let's pretend for a moment that you would like to have an online LMS-type component to your f2f course. In your online LMS component, what tools would you use (e.g., discussion boards, dropboxes, announcements, course email, content delivery, etc.) and how?
Feel free to comment below with other ideas for how TOOL's Navigate Skill is relevant to your work as a middle grades science teacher.
