Hi Everyone, Great dialogue.....I've been sleeping on this thread here, reflecting on conversations that I've had with Nellie, Maria and several L4C students, and what's becoming clear, is that Professional Development is an essential 'branding opportunity' for WikiEducator. On WE, we have so many projects and activities, it's easy to get lost in the fog.... (so a bit of a ramble coming up here - I'm not as eloquent as Leigh or Wayne... :-)
I'm thinking back to my economic development days, and how can we 'package' what we have in a way that's appealing to educators - who may or may not know about open education. I'm also thinking about institutions' perennial quest to teach their teachers new stuff - which is great, but it's for the masses, not customised to the indivdual interests of teachers.... So, I'm thinking.... why not a process of "you scratch my back, I'll scratch someone else's itch". (Note, I didn't say "you scratch my back, I'll scratch 'yours'). The great thing about the WE community is that we have so many teacher-educators with so many interests (a network!)... The question is..., how can we leverage our WE Network in service of Teacher Educator's Professional Development? I'm thinking that it might make sense to go with a Centre of Excellence approach for Professional Development - to help us with branding and outreach to teacher educators in line with their own ProD interests, not just our wiki skills approach - (see what I've put up http://www.wikieducator.org/Professional_Development I'm also thinking that we have to change the L4C messaging around the requirements for the Learning Contract (i.e., in the 10-day or the 5-day courses) - put emphasis on what Learners have to Offer and Share with their Peers, in terms of something that they can Teach another Educator. (The emphasis on OER is great, but the reality is, that if you develop it on WikiEducator, it is an OER! :-) I think a subtle yet important shift in emphasis could help us convey our value proposition, particularly those teacher-educators who want to learn new skills. Of course we want them to develop OERs in our community, but first things first - let's have them share something easy, something they're comfortable with, and something they can "teach" others in our community .... Your thoughts, feedback? - Randy On Sat, Dec 6, 2008 at 2:06 PM, Leigh Blackall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > And of course, anyone is free to participate in the 2 teacher training > courses we have on Wikied already (though they are designed for higher > education practitioners who have ready access to the Internet). > > > - Flexible > Learning<http://wikieducator.org/Designing_for_flexible_learning_practice> > - Online > Facilitation<http://www.wikieducator.org/Facilitating_online_communities> > > > These 2 courses run twice a year, and informal participation is welcome for > anyone anywhere. I am continuously looking for ways in which formal tuition > and assessment can be made entirely free, but at the moment I can only offer > informal participation for free. What's the difference? Personal learning > support and a piece of paper at the end that says you are good to go to NZ > standards. > > Shortly, we will have more of our teacher training courses available in > this model, and many of the others may be more appropriate for secondary > teachers and other practitioners who do not have ready access to the > Internet. > > So, with more and more of these sorts of courses becoming available in all > sorts of versions of FREE, I think teacher training in Africa could well be > offered for free. > > > On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Wayne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Hi Randy, >> >> Teacher education is a huge challenge -- particularly in Sub-Saharan >> Africa. I think there are ways in which the WikiEducator community can >> help. >> >> A couple of thoughts - >> >> 1. With considerable surprise and celebration :-) -- I now see that the >> Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) project is using a CC-BY-SA >> license!!!!! --- Previously they were using a non-free content license -- so >> it seems that some of the lobbying and noise has rendered positive results >> :-). >> >> See: >> http://www.tessafrica.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=119 >> >> I'll get in touch with the TESSA organisers and start exploring ways we >> can support TESSA in the achievement of their objectives -- for example, L4C >> training workshops in building capacity for content development. >> >> 2. Declan McCabe has pioneered and innovative model for student teachers >> to engage in OER content development. We can build on this experience in >> connecting teacher education institutions around the world --- mmm lots of >> potential here! >> >> See: http://www.wikieducator.org/Biology_in_elementary_schools >> >> 3. Vincent Kiza, is a Ugandan teacher and serves on our Council. We should >> get in touch with Vincent for ideas. In fact, very soon Gayaza High School >> will be hosting a L4C workshop. Also, WhiteEagle from Germany (WE Council >> member) and Vincent are laying the foundations for the Center for innovative >> physics teaching in Uganda ( >> http://www.wikieducator.org/Ted/Project_Planning/Uganda ) >> >> I'm pretty sure that more ideas will emerge --- but we certainly have a >> few good leads to follow. Good thinking Randy! >> >> Cheers >> Wayne >> >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, 2008-12-06 at 12:51 -0800, Randy Fisher wrote: >> >> Hi Everyone, >> >> I came across this news item (December, 2008) in the Independent >> Online, from South Africa) >> >> Teachers should be trained for free in order to try to close SA's >> current 20 000-plus teacher shortfall, the SA Council of Educators >> said on Thursday. >> >> "Considering the low levels of intake at teacher-training facilities >> and the high costs of training... the Council calls for free teacher >> training for all prospective teachers, with immediate effect," said >> SACE CEO Rej Brijraj on Thursday. >> >> Link: >> http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=105&art_id=nw20081204165824720C518870 >> >> *** >> >> I have a few comments / questions: >> >> * What role could WikiEducator in addressing this skills shortage in >> general; and in particular with respect to teacher training? >> >> * Do we have teacher training materials available, or how can we >> facilitate collaborative development of more? >> >> * I recall that our New Zealand colleagues are interested in teacher >> education, as is India's NCERT - http://www.ncert.nic.in/welcome.asp >> ~ who specifically is interested in teacher training? >> >> * Please do share your ideas, thoughts and suggestions... >> >> - Randy >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > -- > -- > Leigh Blackall > +64(0)21736539 > skype - leigh_blackall > SL - Leroy Goalpost > http://learnonline.wordpress.com > http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Leighblackall > > > > -- ________________ Randy Fisher - Change Management & Collaboration, Human Performance & Engagement, Sustainable Communities & Organizations * Engaging People in Teams, Communities and Organizations....and WikiEducator! + 1 604.684.2275 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.wikieducator.org http://www.wikieducator.org/Community_Media http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Randyfisher * Cool WikiEducator Video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9-CNlIqsY * Can You Do the Wiki-Wiki? http://www.wikieducator.org/Wiki_Wiki Skype: wikirandy --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "WikiEducator" group. 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