Professional development for educators has changed immensely over the last 10 years. Money has been tight. PD funds are not available as in the past so we, as teachers, have to find different means to keep up-to-date with the ever-changing education landscape. One way to do this is with the use of Webinars - virtual live PD. These webinars are effective and efficient ways to introduce our teachers to the knowledge needed to learn teaching content and pedagogy needed in today’s education.
A webinar is basically a live conference over the Internet. These webinars can save the participant money is so many ways such as travel, conference fees, hotels etc. The information is live and there is usually the ability to ask questions just as if you are in person. They can be viewed no matter where you are, as long as there is Internet and you have a device.
During the last couple of weeks I was fortunate to be involved in four webinars dealing with topics of my choice. Some were good, some not so good. Here is a snapshot of what the virtual PD entailed.
Webinar 1 - New Apps for Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Other Learning Issues
Here is a link to the original post on Facebook complete with screenshots of my involvement in both the webinar and the backchannel.
What I Saw: Last week, I completed a webinar on New Apps for Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and Other Learning Issues. Accessibility and diversity are two issues in education that are at the forefront of high school redesign. I thought this webinar would be a good fit into the ethics behind “education for all.” This webinar was hosted by Andrew Lee from the Understand Content Team. The webinar was given by Jamie Martin - a technology expert for this company. The presentation itself was not great. The feed was interrupted on occasion because of loss of video or audio or both. I think as technology teachers, we have become familiar to this type of thing happening as everyone, for the most-part, was patient. The webinar discussed a variety of apps that can help student with learning issues such as dyslexia and dysgraphia. As well, the apps were presented and explained for the audience. The chat section was open where we had the ability to ask questions or start a backchannel chat. Some of the questions were not answered and caused frustration amongst the participants.
My contributions. Since this was my first webinar, I basically just listened and added a little to the backchannel by asking questions that I thought were relevant. It seemed the presenter was struggling a bit and the engagement was low so I asked a few questions to try to spice up presentation. As well, I tried to influence the negativity of the backchannel.
Learned concepts and processes: Many of the participants were looking for something else as you could see their frustration in the backchannel talk. People were coming straight out and asking if there would be anything of older aged students but they would not answer this question. The apps were developed for young children - grades 1-4 - and many people were getting anxious as to whether the webinar would lead to a discussion of older students. This question was never directly answered. As for my learning, the information of the webinar was not what I was looking for as I teach older students. The apps were not relevant for a higher level of education. However, they had could have some value to ELLs. Overall, this webinar was not what I thought it would be. Good information but for sure the wrong grade level. As for the process, I like the fact that discussions can happen during the presentation. It this particular platform, both group or individual chats could happen. The negative to this, it became a complaint session. Personally, in the future, I will research more about the webinar so as not to potentially waste my time. Here is a link to the webinar.
Webinar 2 - Leveraging LInkedIn: Learn How to be Visible to Your Employers
Here is a link to the original post on Facebook complete with screenshots of my involvement in both the chat and the backchannel.
What I saw: A second webinar I was involved in last week was on the social network, LinkedIn. I chose this webinar for two reasons. First, to learn more about the importance of profiles and second, how to increase my digital footprint in this social network. The webinar was entitled, Leveraging LinkedIn: Learn How to be Visible to Your Employers. The presentation platform was very clear. Compared to webinar #1, both sound and audio were excellent. One disappointing thing on this webinar was the fact that there was no ability for backchannels. There was, however, the ability to ask questions via a “raising hand button” or a question area. The moderator did a good job of bringing the questions to the speaker and the questions were answered promptly. There was also a PDF that all could download. It was the main organization segment of the webinar as the speaker followed this PDF to a tee.
My contributions. Since there was no ability to engage in backchannels in this webinar, my contributions were limited. I did ask a question and received an excellent answer.
Learned concepts and processes: Many concepts were covered in this webinar - all in context of using LinkedIn as a recruiting tool. It was not what I had in mind when I joined the virtual live PD but it was valuable in that I am new to LinkedIn and many social media platforms. The main concepts covered were how is LinkedIn used by recruiters, how to get to the top of the LinkedIn search and tips on building your profile to increase your digital footprint on LInkedIn. I especially liked the tips on how to improve your profile to get optimal results when being searched. I did not like the fact that backchannels could not be used but considering the backlash of the last webinar I attended, maybe it was a good thing. Here is a link to the webinar.
Webinar 3 - Young Children and Technology
Here is a link to the original post on Facebook complete with screenshots of my involvement in both the chat and the backchannel.
What I Saw: This webinar, Young Children and Technology, was housed through edWeb. This webinar discussed the use of apps for children in the classroom. The speaker gave his opinion on 11 of these apps but because there are over 1500 to choose from, he also gave a link to the Children’s Technology Review Exchange (CTREX) where teachers could go and find many resources for technology. The webinar itself had over 300 participants, by far the largest that I have ever participated in. As you would expect from such a large participation base, the backchannels were going. Some of these topics were “should smartphones be allowed in class” and the “dangers of the Pokemon Go app which led to texting and driving.” Neither of these had much to do with presentation - except the app - but this is what backchannels often do. The webinar was set to listen only however there was a section for questions to be asked. These were covered at the end of the webinar. I found the webinar speaker knowledgeable but he rambled on at times.
My contributions. As I said earlier, this webinar had over 300 participants. The backchannels conversations were varied but for the most part, completely off topic. There was one interesting conversation about the Pokemon Go app so the speaker took some time to discuss its value to education and our students. I was a part of two backchannel chats but then wanted to concentrate more on the presentation so I backed off of the side chatter.
Learned concepts and processes: I learned a lot about webinars with huge participation. It can be hard to concentrate on the presentation as there are so many other conversations that go on at the same time. This backchannel reminded me of a Twitter chat that was not organized. I think it is important to pick and choose your discussions because you can lose the gist of the presentation itself. In this presentation, I was fascinated by some of the apps that are out there for children. Although most were pay apps, some could definitely by incorporated into the classroom.Here is the link to the webinar. Use ryan olynyk and ryanolynyk@u.boisestate.edu to enter the webinar.
Webinar 4 - Top Tech for Teachers to Start School Year
What I Saw: This webinar was part of the CTL Education Professional Development Webinar Series. CTL has worked with Google to introduce a line of Chromebooks and is a proponent of Google Apps for Education. This particular webinar gave a variety of PBL projects that could be used in the classroom. The webinar showed how apps such as Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Draw, Google Forms and Google Classroom could be used in the implementation of projects in the classroom that allow for great collaboration between students and teachers. There were many great projects. These are shown on the following PDF document complete with links to these projects. The webinar started with an introduction of how the webinar interface worked. All participants were locked in listen mode only - participant audio was muted. Questions could be asked by typing into the area and were addressed at the end of the webinar. There was no place for backchannel talk in this presentation.
My contributions. As there was no ability for backchannel discussions, my main contribution to the webinar was to ask a question. The speaker did ask for a short poll which I participated in but mainly I just followed along with the presentation. The question was answered in the Q and A at the end of the webinar.
Learned concepts and processes: The webinar was very valuable as I use PBL in the classroom quite often. I liked some of the projects and the usage of Google Apps in areas I did not think of in the past. One concept I will be bringing into my classroom is the students’ creation of individual websites. The students will use Google Sites to create their website and thus, learn about digital citizenship and start their journey into creating a solid digital footprint. Here is a link to the Webinar.
I found the use of Webinars to be a valuable PD platform. The ability to be involved in the the presentation by asking questions make it more engaging for the user. As well, the backchannels are valuable however, not all of these webinars give access to these two features. The use of virtual live PD is great because of the abundance of webinars on the internet. PD can occur anytime, anyplace - no longer will the educator need to wait months to learn about current topics.
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