Page 69 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

CHAPTER 11 • Leveraging Technology for Teacher Efficiency and Effectivenes

• For those looking for hands-on assistance, we offer our OK2Ask web-based
workshops. Typically 90 minutes to 2 hours, these sessions include
hands-on activities for practice. Participants who have difficulty are encour-
aged to ask for help from one of the coaches in the session—after all, it is
OK 2 ask… .
• Another way to ask for integration ideas is via Twitter. Our #Ok2Ask Twitter
chats offer the opportunity for dialog around a specific topic. We ask and
answer questions as well as suggest resources for further investigation of
the chat topic.
• Teachers looking for a “deep dive” into specific topics may find our confer-
ence presentation resources helpful. After each conference presentation we
create a resource page to expand on the topic and give additional ideas for
implementation.
I often tell teachers that if they would search our website before they search
Google, they would probably save themselves some time. Our website reviews
give an educator’s perspective on the resources we index. We also include lesson
plan stems to help teachers learn to integrate technology as needed. Since we’ve
been at this for years, our collection is rather large. Teachers can search by topic,
grade level, and keyword to find the “just right” resource for their classroom.
Over the years we’ve found other ways to group resources in our collection.
Teachers interested in finding a tool for students to use in projects should look at
resources in our TeachersFirst Edge categories. Resources in the Edge can all
be used to create student projects or learning objects. Those looking for a few
resources on a particular topic—either to get themselves up to speed or to use
with their students—should look at our special topics collections. When our team
finds 20 to 30 resources on a specific topic, we categorize and group them under
the topic heading so that they are easier to find and sift through.
When we have been unable to find a resource to meet teacher needs, some-
times we create them. TeachersFirst original items like Globetracker’s Mission,
Gettysburg by the Numbers, and MySciLife were created to meet expressed
teacher needs.
Membership in our community is free and allows teachers to learn about and
share how they use technology resources. Come join us!

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Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Tools to Meet the Needs of Every Student 69