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!
Moodle, or Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, is a free tool that acts as a course management system. Anyone who has ever worked with Blackboard will recognize the similarities. For teachers who want to have their syllabus, weekly assignments and course materials available in an online environment, Moodle is the tool for you. Teachers can also provide a “digital drop-box” for the submission of assignments by students.
Through an arrangement with Las Cruces Public Schools, we can access their Moodle server. Anyone wishing to set up a Moodle site should contact the Tech Team for assistance.
Google has made an extraordinary effort to create free productivity, learning and presentation tools that can be used either by teachers or students. While SCS provides access to other programs like Microsoft Office and Open Source, Google may have the best portability for work files because everything is saved to the Internet (as opposed to a hard drive or a portable drive). That means the documents are accessible on any computer with Internet access. While concerns over privacy have some merit, proper management and caution by educators will prevent the transmission or sharing of sensitive data.
Like other software, Google is just one more component of an educator’s tool box. Google may not fit all circumstances but chances are that every teacher and student will use Google at some time during their teaching or learning career. As educators, we have an obligation to give our students the broadest educational experience possible. Google should be just one of many credentials on a student’s list of qualifications.
This blog has already mentioned several fabulous tools for creating video and audio presentations. Once again, video and/or audio presentations are nice tools for content delivery, but we should remember that we need differentiated instruction … not all students will learn from video and audio lessons. The ideal situation would allow educators to use three or four different methods of content delivery … alas, if we only had time!
Once again, the general consensus in educational technology is that technology works best when put in the hands of students (as opposed to educators using technology for content delivery). Technology has greater value when used by students to organize, analyze, present, synthesize, narrate, explain, and assess their learning. There
are free sites like Screencast-O-Matic and Screentoaster, and many educators are already familiar Power Point, Windows Movie Maker, Quicktime and iMovie. On Saturday, RETA showed us how to use Audacity (a free Open Source program) and Photo Story.
The educator hungry for more tools can also visit The RETA Podcast Page for links to all kinds of free podcasting software. You may also want to visit the The RETA Podcasting Wiki for more guidance on Podcasting.
If you have not already registered to explore the Open Light Wiki, it is in the best interest of you and your students to do so. We do not learn educational technology by osmosis, and the integration of technology into the classroom is not going to happen with the blink of an eye or the wave of a wand. The SCS Tech Team is always ready to help, and we are waiting for your email, voice mail, text message, or any communication from one of the other magical technology things at your disposal.
