Active learning, student engagement, technology integration, digital instructional design, and digital citizenship and online safety are the main topics for an ongoing professional learning series offered by the MLTI Ambassadors. This series features daily offerings that can be attended live via Zoom and are open to all interested educators. The sessions are now available as asynchronous versions through our website. To attend one of the live sessions via Zoom, be sure to register through this April calendar. Please note that the times of these offerings vary from day to day. Asynchronous versions of these sessions will be available through MLTI Professional Learning as well as the MLTI Youtube channel.
Some topical offerings:
- Kate Meyer is offering a Digital Poetry session to celebrate National Poetry Month.
- Looking for something for Mathematics Awareness Month? Erik Wade will be offering professional learning with Engaging Students with Math and Science Simulations on the 12th and Rob Dominick’s offering Using Digital Tools to Uncover Student’s Thinking in Math from the recent ATOMIM Conference is already available.
- Holly Graffam’s session Computational Thinking Skills with Engineering Design Process and Physical Computing with Microbits and PBL are excellent leading into World Creativity and Innovation Week in late April as well as Inventor’s Month in May.
- Erik Wade’s Engaging Students through Citizen Science from last month is perfect for both Citizen Science Month and Earth Day.
- If you are a librarian or library support staff member looking to change things up for National Library Week, consider Jonathan R. Werner’s six-part series on Digital Citizenship and Online Safety
Monday – Technology Integration with Rob Dominick
The Technology Integration series has dug into some data describing the effect of technology in the classroom, discussed the foundational integration strategies of TPACK and SAMR, and introduced three other useful strategies of TIM, PICRAT, and Triple E.
Coming up in April, we will continue to discuss those strategies by analyzing each one and looking into what they actually look like in practice in the classroom. The series will culminate in the last week of April by evaluating some example lesson plans which integrate technology so that participants can apply that skill to their own planning.
To find the previous professional development sessions in this series, and receive contact hours for them, please visit our YouTube playlist.
Tuesday Tech – Student Engagement with Erik Wade
The student engagement series has been engaging audiences far and wide with professional development about integrating graphic design, inquiry, citizen science, and 3D design and printing. If you would like to view these past professional development opportunities, you can find them by clicking this link.
Coming up in April, we will explore engaging students through virtual reality, math and science simulations, and the use of technology in outdoor education and agriculture.
Wednesdays with Werner – Digital Citizenship & Online Safety with Jonathan R. Werner
This six-part series on Digital Citizenship and Online Safety will draw on the incredible resources Common Sense Education (CSE) has curated to provide educators with a framework for and tools to teach students about Digital Citizenship. April will include the last two offerings: Relationships and Communication (Week 5) and Cyberbullying, Digital Drama, and Hate Speech (Week 6).
Please note, educators can choose any or all of these sessions and do not need to be able to attend all six. After April Break, we will tackle the sixth CSE focus area, News and Media Literacy, in a multi-week series focusing on issues such as Finding Credible News, the Four Factors of Fair Use, and Creator’s Rights and Responsibilities.
Thursday – Digital Instructional Design with Kate Meyer
This series of workshops will explore the creation and implementation of high-quality, engaging, interactive digital learning experiences for your students. Each week we will explore a new digital strategy that you can easily implement into any unit of study. This month we will be exploring Digital Poetry, Design Thinking Infographics, and Podcasting.
If you missed March’s workshops on Hexagonal Thinking, Silent Discussions, or Curation Projects, you can view them asynchronously on MLTI’s YouTube channel on the Digital Instructional Design playlist.
Friday – Active Learning with Holly Graffam
The first series of workshops focused on integrating Problem-Based Learning in the classroom, including an overview of Problem-Based Learning as well explored applications across a variety of content areas from literacy to science.
Beginning in April, Computer Science across the curriculum will be the subject of the second series of workshops. Sessions will discuss the critical need for computer science in our classrooms and examine engaging, creative ways to integrate computer science into your existing curriculums.