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Well Read — a No-Guilt Book Club for Educational Leaders and Innovators (4/27/17)
Curious about inspirational and helpful new books on innovative education leadership, but don’t have time to read? This is the Club for you!
Suggested during the recent EdCamp and led by education innovator Beth Clarke, this ‘no guilt’ book club featured engaging topics in education, innovation and leadership — provided that at least one person has read and will share highlights from inspirational books. We came together for an organizational meeting and discussion of titles to read in the coming year. No stress involved: the books were topic launchers so even if we had not read them, we all were able to participate in rich dialogue!
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Trends in Professional Development — Advance yourself through Micro-Credentials & Badges (5/4/17)
Microcredentials. Badges. Competency-based recognition. What’s going on with microcredentials and how can the development of ‘badging’ inspire your own growth mindset and professional learning?
We learned more about this new trend and heard about UW-Extension’s role as part of a nation-wide Consortium exploring how we can make self-directed learning accessible and relevant to learners (and teaching professionals) of all ages. Andrea Deau is the Information Technology Director at the University of Wisconsin-Extension, Continuing Education, Outreach & E-Learning (CEOEL) and the Co-Director of the University of Wisconsin ADL Partnership Lab.
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Make-ing Learning Fun! — Assessing learning with Maker kits (5/24/17)
It’s fun to jump on the Maker Mindset bandwagon, but how can we document the wonderful learning going on?
We had an engaging session on the Bubbler at Madison Public Library’s summer initiative, MakerCorps, and learned about assessment tools and practices they are developing to document authentic learning. We got our creative juices running while reviewing the Bubbler’s line up of Maker Kit activities for K-8, and discussed how we can integrate these exciting new techniques into our practices.
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Getting “Personal” About Learning — Moving from ‘Sage on the Stage’ to ‘Guide on the Side’ (5/31/17)
What is personalized instruction and how can it shift the roles of educator and learner? How can the design of your teaching space enhance learning?
We discussed ways to empower learners to drive their own learning! Dr. Ryan Krohn, educator and Director of the Institute for Personalized Learning at CESA 1, shared stories from across WI and the nation about how powerful elements of personalized instruction impact student learning. We explored the current landscape, discussed ideas, built models, and networked with local PL leaders. The session kicked off with a personalized, hands-on tour of Atmosphere’s new “Learn Lab” that showcases design elements for learning!