This weeks module was centered around the question of “What additional professional learning do you need to become a more effective coach?” With this in mind and focusing on ISTE Coaching Standard 6: Content Knowledge and Professional Growth b. Engage in continuous learning to deepen professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions in organizational change and leadership, project management, and adult learning to improve professional practice and 6c. Regularly evaluate and reflect on their professional practice and dispositions to improve and strengthen their ability to effectively model and facilitate technology-enhanced learning experiences, I wanted to find resources for coaches to continue to learn.
I found two resources that I believe will help coaches continue their learning. The first resource is an article from McGraw-Hill Education titled “Resources for EdTech Coaches. McGraw-Hill stated “The role for a coach is always evolving and will continue to evolve as various digital learning environments take shape. They fill a vital space that has emerged in the era of personalized and digital learning” To help with the constant change they developed a list of five resources for tech coaches.
#1. ISTE Connect EdTech Coaches Network: The Edtech Coaches Network promotes the development and collaboration of educational technology coaches who support the professional growth of teachers as they use technology to enhance learning. This online resource offers an extensive discussion board where its nearly five thousand members can engage in meaningful conversation surround EdTech topics. There is also a library full of additional resources that members can use and where they can upload their own materials. Finally, another neat feature of this network that they list events around the United States to attend. The only downside to this network is that it isn’t free and the yearly membership could be a little on the higher side for some coaches.
#2 Understanding District Digital Transformations: Each district/community have different digital learning plans and technology integration from a district-wide perspective. Think about how you can gather a better understanding of your district’s digital transformation plan if you don’t already know, and in what areas your experience and expertise might help district leaders to develop an even stronger plan because a good district digital transformation plan is always evolving
#3 Future Ready Schools Groups and Events: A planning and resource hub for personalized, digital learning, Future Ready Schools hosts events across the country for district leaders and EdTech stakeholders to spend time collaborating and planning a digital learning strategy. Lauren Borrero from my cohort wrote a wonderful blog about future ready schools where she goes into detail about future ready schools and how they provide collaborative leadership. Check out her blog here.
#4 Approaches to Personalized Learning: The learner and the teacher collaborate to drive learning and determine needs, plan, and learning design. With personalized learning it can be helpful to take a step back and seek out a refresher, McGraw-Hill has a great article that outlines personalized learning.
#5 EdTech Podcasts: Podcasts are a great way for teachers to learn information that is created by Educators for Educators. Bam Radio Network has podcasts about instructional technology, teacher innovation, and creating a meaningful classroom environment. TED Talks Education is, of course, another great audio resource.
Conclusion: With the constant change happening with educational technology resources for EdTech coaches are valuable. These resources are available for indivdial learning such as podcasts and for community learning like the ISTE Connect. Using these such tools can help coaches keep up in their ever evolving field.
