February 11 - The Details...Marian University Technology Coaching Academy

Greetings,

I would like to extend an invitation to all of the technology coaches and integration specialists in Wisconsin to attend the second meeting of the Marian University Technology Coaching Academy.

The Logistics:

What: Marian University Technology Coaching Academy
Where: Stayer Center at Marian University 45 South National Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI  54935
When: February 11, 9:00-3:00
Cost: $0
What to bring: Device, any coaching information, models you use, questions, etc. In an effort to provide this academy without a fee, refreshments will not be provided. Feel free to bring your own beverages and snacks, lunch will be on your own.

I look forward to working with each of you on February 11!

Kristi Shaw, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

School of Education-Educational Technology

Marian University

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

715.350.9532

klshaw64@marianuniversity.edu 

Google+: google.com/+KristiShaw 

Twitter: @kshaw0128

Register:

The Beauty of Informal Education

Last Tuesday, 55 technology coaches from around the state of Wisconsin gathered at Marian University for a Technology Coaching Academy. The purpose of this cadre is to provide ongoing support and networking opportunities for technology coaches. We provide a place to share, ask questions, and network with a group of like-minded educators. The morning was filled with endless opportunities for informal education.

Since Tuesday, I have been reflecting on the session. I've discovered that these are the opportunities that I truly love! Of course, I enjoy teaching my formal classes but, there is a distinct beauty in informal education. My passion in education is being able to interact and connect with educators in the K12 setting. I am constantly in search of ways that we can bridge the gap between K12 and higher education to assist one another in our practice. I was discussing this reflection with a close friend and colleague, Malia Hoffmann, @optimistmalia. She said, "Teaching gets us the job, but the connections are most important." This is so true, our positions in higher education have enabled us to pursue connections with so many wonderful people.

I am so fortunate to be in the position I am in to be able to spend time organizing and facilitating groups like the Technology Coaching Academy, EdCamp, and other informal educational opportunities. Higher education affords the ability to dig deep into research, conduct research, refine practice, and assist others in ways I never imagined. I've spent a lot of time pondering the ways that this Technology Coaching Academy can be expanded, researched, and shared with the masses to make a larger impact. The possibilities are endless, I will be devouring literature on coaching and passing along the information to our technology coaching network. I look forward to the journey.

edcamp Fond du Lac - Cozy edcamp

On Saturday, October 11th, we welcomed educators to Marian University for our second annual EdCamp Fond du Lac. Last year, we had approximately 85 participants present. This year, we had a cozy group of about 35. EdCamp Green Bay was also held on October 11. I assumed that our event would pull attendees from the south, and Green Bay's EdCamp would pull participants from the north. About two weeks prior to EdCamp, I contemplated canceling our event and asking participants to attend Green Bay instead. Given the high-level of enthusiasm, I am glad we decided to stick with the close-knit group and host our event. The Green Bay EdCamp had a wonderful turnout and also facilitated a fantastic day of learning. Although our group was small, the networking and collaboration were plentiful! We even welcomed one participant all the way from Illinois. Tara Linney joined us and shared her experience with coding and genius hour, thanks Tara for making the trek to share your knowledge! 

The benefit of an EdCamp is the customizability of the sessions. We were able to tailor our day to our participants' needs. Some of the sessions included deployment of Chromebooks, classroom management for 1:1, engaging online learners, and the structuring of professional development within a district. The topics of the sessions went far beyond teaching a tool, we discussed classroom strategies, pedagogy, research-based methods, and practical application. 

Thanks to Josh Gauthier, one of the innovative organizers of EdCamp Green Bay, we were able to put the power of two EdCamp events together. At the end of the day, we planned a virtual SLAM session with EdCamp Green Bay. We collaborated via Google Hangout to share our learning. Throughout the day, participants from both events followed the conversations on Twitter via the hashtags.

Thank you to everyone in attendance at both EdCamp events for making Saturday a wonderful day of learning for Wisconsin educators! A special thank you to our sponsors and all of those that helped make EdCamp successful! 

You are invited to the Marian University Technology Coaching Academy

As I discussed in my first post, “We can do more...Marian University Coaching Academy” I am eager to begin working with the technology coaches throughout the state of Wisconsin!

The Educational Innovations Department at Marian University is pleased to announce our Technology Coaching Academy. The Technology Coaching Academy will be offered free of charge for any interested parties. The first meeting of the Technology Coaching Academy will be on Tuesday, November 4 from 8:00 am - 12:00 pm at Marian University’s Stayer Center in Fond du Lac. The hope is to gain the wonderful minds of the technology coaching teams throughout the eastern part of Wisconsin for networking and a great morning of collaborative learning.

Many school districts in Wisconsin are utilizing a technology coaching framework; I believe there is a need for collaboration, discussion of best practices, and needs. From here, we will work to expand this network to include the following topics: Coaching Models, Best Practices, Collaborative Problem-Solution, Peer Coaching, Peer Training, Networking, Working with Administration, Working with IT, and Coaching Staff.

If you would like to register for the free Technology Coaching Academy, please complete the following form:  http://goo.gl/3ww2sW You may register as an individual or as a district team. Please contact me if you have any questions, klshaw64@marianuniversity.edu

We can do more...Marian University Coaching Academy

First, a little background, my teaching experience began in K12 education at All Saints Catholic School in Antigo, WI. During my first year of teaching, I was charged with faculty professional development in technology, now known as technology coaching. I was 22 years old and a brand new teacher; I thought my administrator was crazy to ask me to teach my faculty peers. Despite my fear, the experience of working with other faculty was probably more influential in my career path than working with students. I was able to learn about other teachers’ needs in professional development, and with the support of my administrator, designed and implemented multiple strategies of technology coaching to support technology growth and development for a 4K-8 building. This experience heavily influenced me and shaped my career path in more ways than I knew possible. I learned extreme patience, strategies for working with faculty of all backgrounds, and learned how to coach and teach technology integration with a non-judgmental approach.

This will be the start of my fourth year at Marian University as a full-time assistant professor in the Educational Innovations Department that houses the Educational Technology Program and the Institute of Professional Development. Our Educational Technology Program is aligned with the International Society for Technology in Education National Educational Technology Standards for Coaches (ISTE NETS-C) and includes a Technology Coaching Certificate. We are proud of this program, but we can do MORE.

This week, I had the opportunity to attend the Chromebook Academy in Sun Prairie and EdCamp Oshkosh. At EdCamp Oshkosh, I proposed a session on Technology Coaching Frameworks. The topic of technology coaching has become quite a passion. I have focused a lot of time in the past three years learning about research-based technology coaching frameworks. As I shared my own ideas on technology coaching models based on the TPACK Framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2009), SAMR Model (Puentedura, 2014), ISTE's Technology Coaching and Community Framework (Beglau et al., 2011) and the Partnership Learning Framework (Knight, 2002), I realized that we at Marian have the ability to do more to support technology coaches.

I had a great conversation with Dr. Deb Kneser, the chairperson of our Educational Innovations Department at Marian University this morning. While I was speaking with Deb this morning, I was telling her about our wonderful experience at EdCamp and discussing the technology coaching session. Deb asked, "Who is training the coaches?" We discussed that we were offering the Technology Coaching Certificate at Marian and I explained that perhaps some of these coaches would be interested. She said, "No, we need to do more." 

Thus, the Marian University Coaching Academy was born. The Marian University Educational Innovations Department is going to offer a FREE Coaching Academy that will meet at Marian University on a quarterly basis for all-day workshops, networking, and break-out session training on coaching. We want to expand this to not only Technology Coaches but STEM, Literacy, Math, Special Ed, Assessment, etc. Coaches in the surrounding areas. We are also going to help moderate an online Coaching Academy-Professional Learning Community where we can build/add on to a network of coaches in WI.

More information is soon to come. Please contact me if you are interested in this opportunity. I cannot even begin to express my excitement about providing this service to area school district coaches.

References

Beglau, M., Hare, J.C., Foltos, L., Gann, K., James, J., Jobe, H., Knight, J., Smith, B. (2011). Technology, coaching, and community. ISTE White Paper. [Special Conference Release]. http://www.instructionalcoach.org/images/downloads/ISTE_Whitepaper_June_Final_Edits.pdf

Knight, J. (2002). Partnership Learning [Fieldbook]. The Teacher-Guided Professional Development Series. The University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning. http://instructionalcoach.org/images/partnership/PartnershipLearningFieldbook.pdf

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1). http://www.citejournal.org/vol9/iss1/general/article1.cfm

Puentedura, R. R. (2014). Learning, technology and the SAMR model: Goals, processes and practice. ISTE Presentation. http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/2014/06/29/LearningTechnologySAMRModel.pdf