At COETAIL, we are committed to continually evaluating our program in order to keep it relevant for our participants. After the newest ISTE Standards were released, we revamped the COETAIL curriculum to equip today’s educator with the knowledge and skills to impact student learning.
“The ISTE Standards for Educators are your road map to helping students become empowered learners. These standards will deepen your practice, promote collaboration with peers, challenge you to rethink traditional approaches and prepare students to drive their own learning.” (source)
We reached out to our COETAIL alumni to better understand how they grew during the COETAIL program.
The first ISTE Standard in our series is Learner:
ISTE Standards for Educators // Learner
Educators continually improve their practice by learning from and with others and exploring proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning. Educators:
1a.
Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness.
1b.
Pursue professional interests by creating and actively participating in local and global learning networks.
1c.
Stay current with research that supports improved student learning outcomes, including findings from the learning sciences.
Eduro Learning embraces a community approach to learning. We believe that our community is essential to COETAIL’s identity so we are letting their voices speak for the program. Below, COETAILers share how they grew as Learners during their journey.
I realized through COETAIL that knowledge can be constructed through a shared communally developed understanding. The COETAIL experience is not a professional learning opportunity that ends when the courses are complete. In reality, the strength of COETAIL is that the courses are the primer and the time afterward is the main event. Being pushed as an adult learner is important to me, and although the COETAIL program afforded me opportunities in which I was able to learn and employ that learning in my classroom the next day, it is so much more – what I would call a “long learn.”
The community approach to learning allowed me to realize the importance of collaborating with others as well as creating and sustaining authentic global connections with like-minded educator around the world.
There are many examples of improved practice(s) and learning from/with other COETAILers but I’d highlight the complete remodel of my class that discussed on Extreme Makeover: Classroom Edition, my final project on Blended Learning as well as the work I’ve done with another Cohort member on digital storytelling with Traveling Tales.
I can not tell how much I learned from my PLN. I have learned from reading others’ blogs, following their Twitter feeds, or asking questions about projects they share. I’ve learned that COETAIL was just the spark I needed to take some big risks.
I have learned and integrated new software into some areas. I have managed to integrate Scratch programming in Year 2, 3 and 4-year levels’ curriculum and connect it to the content areas such as Directions (Year 2 Maths), Bee-Bots (Year 3 Maths), Electrons and Conductor (Year 4 Science). I have integrated MinecraftEdu into Year 2 Math curriculum (students collaborated in creating bar charts based on the survey they took in class), Year 3 Topic curriculum (students worked to research and create Ancient Egyptian civilization), Year 4 Science (students worked in groups to research and create Animals Habitats). The technology tools that I have integrated raised students’ motivation, engaged them more in the activities which resulted in enhancing their learning. Also, these tools fostered deeper learning through different integrated approaches.
Your turn!
What does being a Learner mean to you? How do you demonstrate this standard? Why and how would you like to grow as a Learner?
Let us know via Twitter or Instagram using #COETAIL (feel free to get creative!) or comment below!