Free Training on Moodle, Google Tools and More
On Saturday, November 15, four representatives from Socorro Consolidated Schools joined educators from Las Cruces, Truth or Consequences, Lordsburg, and Dexter at the Regional Educational Technology Assistance (RETA) Center on the campus of New Mexico State University for a day of free professional development in educational technology. The course offerings included Google for Educators, Moodle for Beginners, Web 2.0 Guided Tour and Creating Audio/Visual Using FREE Open Source Tools. Each attendee was able to attend two three-hour sessions and received certificates for completing the workshop.
Socorro’s participates in RETA through the Open Light Partnership that is funded by the New Mexico Legislature to help administrators and educators integrate technology in the classroom. The RETA Webinar Series on Monday nights at 6:00 PM is an online professional development component that can either be attended live (with synchronous participation) or through archived recordings.
The next Open Light/RETA Professional Development Program will be held in Socorro on either January 10 or February 7. Attendance is limited and a stipend is paid to those who complete the workshops.
Educators who are serious about improving student engagement and the quality of student work assignments benefit immensely from the training provided by RETA. Students become the biggest winners when they are given the opportunity to use technology to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and learning. More and more evidence indicates that students of all ages learn more when their assignments include technology components. While technology certainly has a place in content delivery (with podcasts or learning management systems like Moodle), the name of the game is STUDENT APPLICATION!
