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Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I hope you are having a wonderful day today. Today, we are going to be looking at promoting student learning in a learning management system. Specifically what do you need as a teacher in order to accomplish this? For today's lesson, I've chosen a quote by Joss Whedon which says, "Don't just give people what they want, give them what they need." And that is exactly what we are going to do today.
By the end of the lesson today, you will be able to identify the major needs of teachers to help reach learning goals within an LMS, or a learning management system. So let's go ahead and get started.
First and foremost, it's important to remember that teachers are always needing professional development. This is something that will never go away. And specifically within learning management system, especially when you are using an LMS in a blended learning approach, professional development is really important.
Ongoing professional development is going to help you keep up with the various online learning technologies, as well as new pedagogical approaches that can change very quickly. So it's important that we are keeping track of how you can best, as a teacher, use your knowledge and show that knowledge to the students in your classroom to keep them up to date with the LMS software.
So first and foremost, professional development should include various information on Web 2.0 and those 21st-century technology skills. You want to make sure that as a part of a blended classroom, a blended learning environment, that you are getting the most up-to-date information on what's changing within the digital world. That way, you can know how you can use those various tools to help ease some of the education that you are doing in your classroom.
You also want to make sure that any professional development that you attend has information on various individual learners' motivation and their interaction. Meaning that we are really going to look at how when the learners are in a blended learning environment, they can help be more motivated to complete their work and what you can do as a teacher to help influence that motivation and various interaction with other students.
Additionally, professional development should always include emphasis on the individual learning styles of each student, helping you to develop learning activities that can first enhance that student interaction. So we're getting kids to the programming. But also ways in which you can adapt those various learning elements and instruction elements, so that you can hit the different learning styles of the children in your classroom.
And modify those various assignments that you have, so that you can be meeting the needs of each and every student at the level that they are at, because we know that not all students come to an hour class at the same level. So we want to make sure we're meeting those needs.
Additionally, professional development should also include improved communication skills. We are not just in the business of knowing this information, but communicating this information to our students. And so it's really important that you are getting that professional development in not only how to communicate what you expect of your students, but also how the LMS can help you communicate with your students and their families. Things like enhanced email correspondence or engaging discussion board postings, ways that you can make sure that you are getting your students to engage in those communications through the LMS.
It's also really important that you're getting skills on how to recognize with the tone of writing. Even as we move digitally, we are not ever going to abandon those standard communicating elements. And so we need to make sure that we are meeting the needs that our students have when it comes to communication and teaching them the most appropriate ways to communicate within a digital world.
Finally, it's really important that professional development include some elements of helping you improve your time management skills. Being a blended learning teacher is very difficult. It can be because it can be very time consuming helping to meet the needs of all of your students. And so it's important that you are getting development on how to improve that time management.
The second major element that is necessary to all teachers to meet the needs of those within a learning management system is mentoring. Every teacher in every area needs a mentor, but especially with in the area of a learning management system mentoring by another teacher who is going to be exceptionally important.
The first experiences that the teachers have within a blending learning environment are very similar to the first experiences that a teacher has when they enter the classroom for the first time. So this isn't just for new teachers, but all teachers who are new to LMS. And as everyone can remember, that is a very anxious time. You are constantly concerned about making sure you're ready for that day that sometimes we can forget bigger picture elements or problem solving elements.
And that's where a mentor teacher can come in. Someone who has those quick answers and relatable advice, meaning I've been there before. I've been through this. I am experienced in this blended learning environment. And I can help give you an opportunity to get those quick answers you need maybe even right in that moment, or someone who is hopefully close by. If not, someone you can talk to at the end of the day or the week and say, I've been trying this. I'm not sure it's working as well. What are the suggestions that you have that are specific to a blended learning environment and the use of an LMS?
Finally, the real benefit of mentoring is that it offers up learning opportunities both for the new teacher, but also for the mentor. In every mentor experience that I have been in on both sides of the table, everyone is learning a little bit. New teachers can bring new ideas to the table, whereas mentor teachers can bring those trusted elements of experience that they have had. And in the end, both people end up benefiting from that relationship.
The final major element that most teachers need in regard to helping meet the learning goals within a learning management system, especially one in a blended learning environment, is the ability to engage with online professional development. When I say online professional development, what we're looking at here are conferences, webinars, and other professional development resources that don't require you going to a specific location.
These are really beneficial because they are easily accessible. So for busy teachers or those who are in areas where a lot of professional development isn't plentiful, these offer an opportunity for you to get the same information without perhaps the same sort of time commitment.
Some areas that you would want to look into. The first one is iNacol. And that is a main source for teachers to help develop those knowledge and skills related to that blending learning environment. They have something called a Virtual School Symposium, which they hold each November.
And that's something that you could easily be a part of, as well as teacher talk and leadership webinars that take place on a monthly basis. So that there's not only these big, large overarching opportunities, but also more frequent ones that allow teachers to really get involved and invested in that professional development. There are also a number of publications that can help enhance the teacher's development in between those sessions. So a lot of elements are offered by that organization.
There are also many other online professional development opportunities through sources like Sophia or Teacher Tube. And these are various elements that take maybe less time or a little can be more or less formal depending on what the teacher needs, but really can offer you that in the moment help and guidance for specific needs with in a blended learning environment, specifically those using those various learning management systems.
Now that we've reached the end of the lesson, you are able to identify the major needs of teachers to help reach learning goals within an LMS. Now before we end, I would like to take just a moment for reflection. Now that you've learned about the needs of teachers within a learning management system, what do you think would be the most difficult part of accessing that professional development or mentoring needs in your specific teaching situation? Go ahead and pause the video for just a moment to think about your answer to this question.
Now to dive a little deeper and learn how to apply this information, be sure to check out the Additional Resources section associated with this video. That's where you'll find links targeted toward helping you discover more ways to apply this course material. Have a great day.
(00:00-00:23) Intro
(00:24-00:38) Objectives
(00:39-05:02) Professional Development
(05:03-07:09) Mentoring
(07:10-09:08) Online PD
(09:09-09:19) Review
(09:20-10:03) Reflection
How to Choose an LMS in 2014
This blog post by Stephen Walsh provides clear considerations in selecting an LMS to meet the objectives of your classroom or organization. Scroll down for a downloadable planning guide.
http://www.kineo.com/resources/top-tips/learning-strategy-and-design/choosing-an-lms