T3: Sample Lesson from CEP 810 Course
Sample Lesson in our CEP 810 Course
“Using the Internet to Bring Professional Development to You!”
The Educational Technology Certificate program is now offered face-to-face or online and is part of the new Educational Technology (NP) endorsement. So what is stopping you from signing up today? Perhaps we need to show you a sample of what is covered in one of our courses. Below you will find a lesson on creating a Netvibes page for professional development that is presented in our CEP 810 course.
An important aspect of professional development is connecting with other educators and professionals. Unfortunately, all too often educators feel isolated and find it difficult to connect with educators outside of their building. Distance isn’t the only issue. Educators often have multiple demands on their time. Recent advances on the web now make it possible to bring other educators and professional development resources to you.
Think about your favorite magazine or journal. For those really good journals that you want to read every week you subscribe to them so that they are delivered to your door every month. You don’t have to go out and get them. Applications known as RSS Readers or Aggregators do the same thing. They allow you to subscribe to a page such as a blog that generates an RSS feed. The aggregator remembers all of your subscriptions and gathers new content that has been added. It then aggregates the information (compiles it) for you. It is like taking the headlines and abstracts from all of your favorite newspapers or journals and bringing them into one place for you to skim. If you want to follow up on any of the stories they are usually just one click away.
As part of our CEP 810 course we show you how to use an aggregator called Netvibes. Netvibes is web-based and sometimes referred to as a start page. Think of your Netvibes page as your one-stop-shopping area for professional development. Instead of scouring the Internet everyday new information will be brought to you.
We are going to show you how to add RSS Feeds from the following sources:
- Technology and Learning (journal)
- NPR Topics: Education (a compilation of radio shows dealing with issues related to education)
- Webblogg-ed ( Blog)
- Literacy Education Updates (Professional Organization Blog)
Go to the Netvibes Tutorial.
–Kathryn Dirkin, Virtual Endorsement Developer and Year Two Instructor