Welcome to Just in Time Professional Development, designed to help you focus on what you need and want to learn how to do right now.

In a few months you may want to learn something else, so return and expand your teaching repertoire of tools and skills.

You can just do a few modules or all of them. This is your personal journey. Each of you is unique, with different experiences and skills. So each of you can chart your own journey. Picture from www.flickr.com.

There are many resources here to help you, including:

• Syllabus
• Course map – shows you the key topics that will be covered
• List of modules (what you can learn)
  
• Discussion forum – including Technical Difficulties 
• Navigating the course – shows you how to “get around” your virtual course.
• Help! 
• FAQs
  

Let’s get started.

Background

Objective

• Learners will become familiar with course resources, identify personal goals, and practice working with discussion forums and blogs.

Each of you will plot a very individual course, depending on what you want to learn. You may dabble and explore, and then come back and try something else. To get you started, there’s a survey that will help you identify what you want to learn, and will also help me to help you. You will also want to take a look at the Course map, which gives you an idea of some paths you might want to travel in your journey.

After you’ve completed the survey and looked at the Course map , I want to help you be part of the community of learners in this course. There are several ways to stay in touch with your co-learners. Since many of you may take this class during the summer, you will be somewhat cut off from your colleague/co-learners. To overcome this, I’ve created an online discussion forum to provide a place to ask questions and also to share ideas. Once you’ve completed the survey, you will be posting one of your goals there; you are likely to find friends and colleagues working toward similar goals.

If you haven’t participated in an online discussion forum, it will be a new experience for you. You also don’t have to participate at any particular time or place; many people do so from their LaZBoys in their PJs. You can read discussion posts (each message that a member of the course writes) and think before you reply, so you don’t have to feel rushed. You can go back and read what you and others have written and follow the conversation (called a thread).

Finally, you will need a way to keep track of the learning you have done).  You may want to start a blog (see Create your own blog), or write your thoughts in a notebook.  Either way, you'll be posting your musings and reflections as well as demonstrating some of your new skills.

Let’s get started.

Activities

1. Click on the survey. (Click on the blue underlined word survey). It will only take a few minutes to complete, and will help you identify areas you would like to focus on. Write down (in your blog or in your notebook) what your goals are.

2. Take a look at the Course map. (Click on the blue words Course map . This will give you a “big picture” of what’s available in the course.

3. Now for the discussion forum.  You can use the forums to keep in contact with other learners, to ask questions, to ask for help.  Watch this short video to see how a forum works. (Click on the blue words short video and then on the arrow).  You can actually comment on each of the pages in this wiki (though you may need to request access the first time - you'll receive an email and get a chance to set up your password if that happens).  The first time you're in the discussion forum, explain what your main goal is for this course.  Then read what others have written and click on Reply to reply to their postings. Think of this as emails that are shared with everybody in the class. You don’t have to give your name; it’s already part of your record and will show on your post without you having to do a thing.

5. While you’re at the Discussion Forum, take a moment to share your best and worst experiences with technology.  We all know that technology can fail when we need it most, so let’s start by sharing our worst experience with technology.  You know, the time the computer crashed, resulting in the loss of all the final exam grades.  Or the time the projector failed during your very first student teaching lesson.  We all have had times when technology let us down.  Please take a few minutes to share your “favorite.”

Then please respond to two or three of your classmate’s stories, so that we can all get to know each other a little better.  If you happen to notice a story that nobody has yet commented on, please add your own response. 

I’ve included some of my experiences there to give you some ideas. You will probably hear experiences that sound similar to some of your own. We’re all in this together.

6. Finally, as you learn new skills, post what you're thinking in your blog or notebook.

Pause and reflect

Take a deep breath and pat yourself on your back! You’ve already accomplished a lot. Take a few minutes to reflect on your experiences.

Now, think about what you wanted to focus on (as you mentioned in the survey), and take a look at the Course map . Then find the modules that interest you and get started. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please let the instructor know.

Checklist

• Completed the survey
• Looked at the Course map 
• Updated your email in your profile
  
• Posted your best and worst experiences with technology to the Discussion Forum
• Posted your goals
• Reflected about experiences in this module and goals for this course
• Decide what modules you want to start with.