August 2008 Training Update
Team Leaders for the BC UDL project headed back to school early, attending three days of UDL and SMARTBoard training in Vancouver from August 20 to 22. Team Leaders got to know each other a little better by analyzing their own recognition, strategic, and affective strengths and needs using the Class Profiler Tool on the Harvard Cast Website. Team Leaders began to share their expertise as Kathy Rice (SD57) presented a session on peer coaching and Karina Younk (SD68) gave a tour of the website she designed for her district. Following a practice Breeze online meeting, team leaders began planning for online meetings and fall training at their sites. Then it was time to unpack the boxes and make sure that equipment orders had all been filled.
Additional team members from districts 23 Kelowna, 34 Fraser Valley, 39 Vancouver, and 68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith joined the group on the second day.
Project leader Mallory Burton presented a PPT encouraging teams to adopt a UDL mindset and introduced Diigo, a social bookmarking site. Participants shared expertise and requested help during a lo-tech What I Have to Offer and What I Need Activity pictured on the right. The afternoon was spent learning about E-books, E-text, and Audio Books. SET-BC consultant Kerry Randle gave an overview of the new ARC-BC project which is currently preparing an online digital library of downloadable alternate format materials related to the BC curriculum. Tips for installing Kurzweil and purchasing compatible scanners wrapped up the day.
The third day was reserved for the SMARTBoard. SMART Technologies' education consultant Jaimie Ashton presented an information-packed morning of SMARTBoard training. During the session, she actively monitored the group’s learning with the Senteo Personal Response System pictured at the left. Collin Midwood continued with hands-on training and SMARTBoard logistics in the afternoon. It was apparent by the end of the day that the SMARTBoard is already emerging as a project favourite. Several districts will trial the Senteo system, and the new document camera is on everyone’s wish-list.
Watch out school districts 19, 23, 34, 39, 68, and 71 as there are some very excited educators heading your way!