COACHING DIGITAL LEARNING- A MOOC-ED COURSE BY FRIDAY INSTITUTE WHICH WAS HELD IN AUTUMN 2015
Reflecting on the MOOC
The world of education is changing rapidly.This is happening in many English-speaking countries like the USA and Australia, and also Italy has started a lot of innovations and digital skills are now central in many schools. Educators are now following a lot of thinkers and educators working in many different parts of the world. Working online and learning about the best practices is now part of the PLN of teachers. The revolution of Internet has now reshaped the world of education thanks to a magic world " sharing online".
The MOOC course which was run by Friday Institute New York presented a lot of interesting ideas as regards how schools should enhance digital learning among teachers. The main important ideas expressed by the tutors had to do with a lot of interesting points which should be taken into consideration by coaches, teachers, school directors and districts who need to work on a plan aiming at implementing schools with digital skills. The great effort must be shared and it requires a lot of ideas, plans and also some good knowledge into the new tools that today we can use in education. The plans need revision, checking and also sharing ideas among educators.
This is an interesting presentation online made by using the tool Thinglink that can help us understand what DIGITAL LEARNING means: it is a new world where we are asked to enter as educators, teachers and people who have to work with children, students and people who are working and learning online.
If a school needs innovation and a new approach to teaching and learning we do need to work on different points which require considerations:
- technology
- pedagogy
- content
This framework- known as TPACK has been presented by the tutors with lots of interesting web links. The use of Internet is a great tool that can help us develop teaching units and new ways of working.
It is also important to think about the tools we want to use and why we choose them. Assessment becomes crucial and we were provided with tools and ideas about the best ways for evaluation online in the discussions and in the videos online.
Educators need to be aware of the importance of digital skills and the tutors presented them, how they can help us work and great relevance was given to establishing a network of educators who share ideas and experiences online.
A coach has the role of devising a plan for the school and the district in which he or she is working. Coaches need to support teams of teachers who work on themselves to implement their teaching and can enhance education and help their students in the path of digital skills.
Personally, I would like to work on digital skills as they are important for the life of my students, but we do need to develop the internet access in my school and to work on self-development as money is a great problem and we will only do this by the end of this school year. It is a pity that I cannot work on different activities because I could differentiate the students' learning and provide more feedback in their process of learning. I can only devise some activities online where they are asked to watch videos and understand them. PBL could offer a teaching solution but at present it is not possible as some students do not have internet or a PC at home. If they had internet and a tablet or a pc they could work online and make researches and presentations online to be shared and be embedded in a diary online or in a website or blog. They could develop their skills by working in class and also at home.
This is the padlet where I kept the links and the information shared by the teachers in the MOOC and which I think are worth sharing.
There will be more MOOCs in 2016 and I might decide to work on my plan as required in the final activity to be submitted by 30th November 2015.
I think that such activities online can make us think about the importance of working online, sharing ideas and continue self-development as education is changing and will continue changing in the next years. Digital skills are now a must for our students.
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