Are you a classroom teacher looking to increase the use of technology in your classroom but need more training? Are you a tech or STEM teacher wanting to continue your practice? I've been in both positions and found that online trainings were a great option for me.
Here are 7 online technology professional developments that I suggest to continue your classroom technology knowledge! When you click on the name of each one, it will redirect you to their site. These aren't listed in any particular order.
Note: I am not endorsed by any of these companies. These are just ones that I have done and found over the years and believe in that are worth sharing!
1. BrainPop 101 {Free, if you have a teacher BrainPop account. No digital badge, but a printable certificate} Everyone loves the videos that BrainPop produces. Have you tried all of their other amazing features that are to the right of each video? Primary sources, coding, quizzes… There is even a teacher dashboard to explore!
When logged into your teacher BrainPop account, towards the top right of the home screen, it says BrainPop 101. It will walk you through all of their features aside from videos and interact with them in an authentic way. You will also get a certificate of completion with one-hour of Professional Development Credit.
2. Common Sense Educator {Free, once you create your free teacher account. Receive a digital badge.} Common Sense Media is an amazing resource to help you stay updated with today's technology, movies and social media. They also have great parent resources and talking points for all sorts of relevant topics that relate to the above. My favorite is their free digital citizenship curriculum.
This training is more so how you use their curriculum with students and share the information with others. If you are already using their stuff, this is a great refresher to narrow down on how you are using their resource effectively with kids and other teachers in your building.
3. Code.org Courses{Free, once you create your free account.} I linked to the page that shares the progression of coding amongst grade-levels and the professional development opportunity that you would want to choose from. As a coding novice, this was a great learning experience for me to learn the basics of coding and be able to be a guide for my students in my classroom.
4. Google Certified Educator: Levels 1 & 2 {Level 1: $10, Level 2: $25. Must have some sort of Google account to log in; either school or personal.Receive a digital badge & printable certificate once you pass the tests.} These badges you have to pay for, but the content and the training beforehand are excellent. While I use Google tools all the time within my teaching and personal practice, I still learned a lot!
You can review the training material for as long as you want before taking the tests. I try and do a session a day since it gets pretty lengthy. Whenever you feel comfortable, you can sign-up and pay to take your test. They do take a few hours, so much sure to block enough time for yourself! I honestly thought the tests were fun since they are application based and you have to show what you know in real-life situations by using Google to solve teacher's problems.
5. Seesaw Ambassador {Free, application based. If chosen, will receive digital badge after training}. If you are already using Seesaw a lot with your kids and want to know more tips and tricks and effective ways to share your knowledge with other teachers, this program is worth looking in to.
If you aren't accepted or need to wait to get in, Seesaw has other AMAZING professional development webinars, PD in your PJs. They also save a bunch of them on their YouTube Channel that you can rewatch later.
Want to learn how to create and add your digital badges to your email signature? Click here for my video tutorial and template! Once you're done, share with me and send me a message on Instagram @marvelousmsm
Stay marvelous!
Naomi from Marvelous Ms. Meredith
