Professional Engagement
Topic outline
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Also read this article about curation. How the process of curating is a powerful mechanism to learning,
http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/2566/3887
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Introduction 
Link to learning design of this section...
This Section's work When mastering this competence by doing the work in the lab, you should be able to say: The tools and resources we will explore are: The assessment activities we will attempt are: I use the internet to update my subject-specific or pedagogical knowledge. Introduction: Read this article to learn reasons for Educator CPD and ways to do CPD.
What is CPD? WatchI put togetherIn Today's experiment share a document that you find that can help us in subject-specific or pedagogical knowledge I use the internet to identify suitable training courses and other opportunities for professional development (e.g. conferences). Revisit Google Searches Search for and share a resource online I use the internet for professional development, e.g. by participating in online courses, webinars, or consulting digital training materials and video tutorials. Introduce Search for and share a resource online I use formal and informal exchanges in professional online communities as a source for my professional development. Read these two articles. First, Second This is an example of an online community where exchanges can take place In this Lab we will also: - Consult a range of possible online training opportunities and select those which best fit our development needs, learning style and time constraints.
- We will seek ways to actively participate in online training opportunities and contribute to improving them and guiding others in making appropriate choices by providing feedback.
Find an article about the Continuous Professional development of educators Ask experimenters to report on ways they make use of online training opportunities. When I started designing this unit, I was almost overwhelmed by the scope of the topic. It seems everybody is doing a DEd in Continuous Professional Development of Educators. We will limit this unit to the following:
- Why CPD is important;
- How CPD is defined;
- How CPD happens sometimes (there are limitless ways it can and ought to happen);
- How self-directed CPD can happen by exploiting online resources.
Why CPD is important
Education is one of the greatest value-adding endeavors known to humankind. It can only be as successful as the competence of the educator will allow. Because the world changes all the time the competence of educators needs to be updated all the time.
Read page 727 of the attached open-source Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research article. In it, the authors refer to Shulman's (1987) seven types of knowledge that educators need to be updated on regularly: (i)content knowledge [CK]; (ii) general pedagogical knowledge, with special reference to those broad principles and strategies of classroom management and organization that appear to transcend subject matter [PK]; (iii) curriculum knowledge, with a particular grasp of the materials and programs that serve as “tools of the trade” for teachers [CuK]; (iv) pedagogical content knowledge, that special amalgam of content and pedagogy that is uniquely the province of teachers, their own special form of professional understanding [PCK]; (v) knowledge of learners and their characteristics [KoL]; (vi) knowledge of educational contexts, ranging from the workings of the group or classroom, the governance, and financing of school districts, to the character of communities and cultures [KEC]; and knowledge of educational ends, purposes, and values, and their philosophical and historical grounds [KEE]. The authors added the acronyms for clarity.
Read the document by A. Srinivasacharlu at this link. In it, the author discusses several aspects of Continuous Professional Development in the context of the professional educator.
Note the following:
1. Definition of CPD, it contains the following words and phrases: activities; skills; knowledge; expertise; characteristics of a teacher; process; tracking; recording; documenting; formal; non-formal; informal; cognitive domain; affective domain; psychomotor domain; changing times.
2. The need and importance of CPD (the reasons CPD is done). The Author lists about eleven reasons why educators do CPD.
3. The various ways CPD happens (modalities). The author mentions about 20 ways in which CPD is done. (Many are duplicated.)
What is CPD and how to manage it? The video below gives a good overview of the process in the context of professional persons in general. The steps applicable to educators ought to be the same.
Now, read this very informative and up-to-date report on CPD in the context of educators. Does it negate the value of non-formal and informal development? Read this paper and consider.
An important point to bear in mind. CPD requirements will vary from one jurisdiction to another.
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View Make forum posts: 1
Please share with us: What would you like to learn here?
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The internet, Google, and Google Scholar 
The internet, search engines, and a search engine devoted to schorly articles are obvious sources for digital Continuous Professional Development.
The internet is full of information. Some of it high grade; most of it very low grade. As educators, we have to be able to identify academic grade information from the low-grade stuff. We also have to make sure that the low-grade stuff doesn't seep into our work. We also have to teach our learners these skills.
Information to power your continuous professional development is valuable. Accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information is more valuable. The internet and the search engines that help us find information, are not in a position to tell us up front that the information you are reading is high value or low value. We have to use some pointers to make sure we don't fall into a "fake news" trap.
This webpage by Scribbr gives some valuable pointers to evaluate the quality of a site.
An important test to perform on data delivered by a site is the CRAAP test. Read this Scribbr webpage to see how to perform the CRAAP test on website information so that you don't fall into a data crap trap!
Lab alert! Later, in today's lab, you will be required to recall some of the information on what makes a site a good one to use in terms of high-value information.Not all Google searches were created equal. Academic quality information starts with a carefully designed Google search. Watch the video below to learn how to craft a better Google search:
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is a resource to find Academic Grade resources. Searching this database requires the same care as a normal Google search. The same rules to discover more applicable material also apply.
One of the important takeaways to remember is to include the specifiers "filetype:pdf" or "filetype:HTML" in your searches. This way you get access to documents that don't require payments or a third-party library agreement.
Lab alert! Later in today's lab, you will be required to collaborate with others to discover suitable resources on Google and Google Scholar to achieve a specific objective that you will set for yourself.In order to share the Google Slides or Google Jamboard follow the steps from about 7:37 in the video below: (whatever the speaker says about Google Docs, is also applicable to Google Jamboard and Google Slides and Google Sheets. If you have not yet experimented with these free facilities offered by Google, please start now!)
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Please do the quiz now. It contains 12 questions for a total score of 25. You need 15 points to get the badge for this unit.
(All the correct answers will be revealed after your attempt; you have unlimited attempts.)
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View Start discussions: 1 Post replies: 1 Make forum posts: 1 Receive a grade
Your peers need to give you a rating of 60 for this and the next forum activities. The activities have been designed to help you develop your digital Continuous Professional Development skills.
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View Start discussions: 1 Post replies: 1 Make forum posts: 1 Receive a grade
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View Submit feedback
Your feedback is so, so, so, important to me.....
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Conclusion In this unit we covered the following:
- The definition and nature of Continuous Professional Development.
- How to search the internet effectively for online resources to develop your professional competence.
- How to discover academic-grade (as in "weapons-grade") material on the internet to build your subject matter expertise as well as your expertise as an educator.
Make sure you get your badge!
This brings us to the end of the final unit in this Lab. If you have completed the quiz, the two forum activities, and the unit feedback, you should be awarded the Digital CPD badge. Your feedback will be valuable to continue to grow this Lab.
P.s. I discovered this very informative and entertaining video about Google's search technology.
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Please send me a message
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