training
How much will interactive whiteboard training cost me?
Friday, January 22nd, 2010 | IWBs, training | 3 Comments
When technology is introduced into a school, school management must budget for adequate training. As a rule of thumb, the amount earmarked for training must not be less than the amount spent on the technology. This principle also applies to interactive whiteboards.
“But then interactive whiteboards will cost us an arm and a leg!” a school manager may lament. And this is not an understatement.
Fanciful stories are told about the origin of the expression “an arm and a leg”. One of them is that, in times past, artists based their charges for portraits on the number of arms and legs that appeared in the picture. This is a fallacy. The idiom was coined during the last century – it is used to stress how outrageously expensive something is. A similar saying is “to give one’s right arm”, indicating that you are willing to sacrifice your dominant limb – something very valuable – to reach an objective. It follows that paying an arm and a leg for training means that you are making a considerable sacrifice to gain the required skills.
Your school, or education department, should be prepared to make a financial sacrifice to empower you to use your interactive whiteboard. During the planning phase of an interactive classroom, training costs must be factored into the total cost of ownership.
But what about you – the teacher? Is it expected that you also sacrifice an arm and a leg?
It may not be required of you to pay for training courses, but when training is available it is expected that you should sacrifice time to benefit from the opportunity. Often training is offered after work hours, over the week-end, or during vacation periods. You will also need time to practise. This is where you need to make a sacrifice. Time and effort are the two things you should be willing to sacrifice for the sake of your professional development.
It is difficult to put an exact price tag on interactive whiteboard training – circumstances differ. But don’t hesitate to make a personal sacrifice when you have to learn new technology to become a better teacher.
Click here for more information about interactive whiteboards.
Do we value our facilitators?
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 | training | 6 Comments
In the Western Cape we call them facilitators – elsewhere they are known by other names, such as instructional technology integrators. They are the people visiting schools, helping teachers to make sense of the technology that is available to them.
The value of these facilitators is not always appreciated. Training sessions are frequently cancelled and at times appointments to meet on a personal basis are not honoured.
The article Technology graveyards: Why schools need instructional technology integrators should make facilitators feel good about themselves and the service they render. And it should make teachers and principals think twice before they dodge their facilitators.
Viva, facilitators!
Am I not too old to learn how to use a laptop?
Sunday, May 17th, 2009 | laptops, training | 2 Comments
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks – I am too old to learn modern technology,” you may say if you are a senior teacher. When you say that do you really believe it?
Are you using a cell phone? How old were you when you learned to use it? Perhaps you felt the same way about a cell phone a few years ago as you are feeling about a laptop at present. But you learned to operate a cell phone – at first just to make phone calls. Later you discovered the value of a text message (SMS). Now you may use it to take pictures of your grandchildren, or many of the other features your mobile device offers you.
Think about a laptop as just a bigger cell phone. If you conquered a cell phone, you can conquer a laptop. It all depends on how willing and eager you are to learn.
Many teachers in their fifties, sixties and seventies have already mastered the use of laptops and now proclaim that they can’t imagine life without them. If you are a life long learner, this is what you will do – continue to learn new things as they come your way.
An extract from The Khanya Story may be of encouragement to you:
There are some teachers who may feel
Too old for a new trick
Old dogs rebel – protest and squeal –
Their painful wounds they lickThe opposite is often true
– Life is not always grim –
Old ducks sometimes learn new things too
And dogs can learn to swimOft older teachers do excel
And learn an IT skill
All apprehensions they expel
Not yet right o’er the hill
While you are still able to teach, you are not yet over the hill. The education system needs your experience, passion and commitment – and above all, your example. When you get the better of your laptop, you will be setting an example to the younger teacher generation.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
Where will I find time to learn how to use my laptop?
Saturday, May 16th, 2009 | laptops, training | No Comments
“If my school does not allow me time off to learn how to use the laptop, I will never be able to learn,” you may say.
Wrong attitude!
If your school allows you time to learn to develop laptop skills, perhaps by arranging for training sessions, you should accept the opportunity with gratitude and make the best use of it. But if no such provisions are made, it would be in your own interest – and that of your learners – to make time to master this tool.
“But I am too busy,” you say. It is true: teachers are busy people. But so are all professional people. Yet people in positions of specialization make time to develop skills required by their profession. You should do the same.
It may be necessary for you to take half an hour here, and twenty minutes there, to learn and practise new skills. Don’t think that you always need long stretches of time to be able to learn.
Take a lesson from the baboon in the African fable.
The baboon came across a field of pumpkins that were ripe for picking. He took a stone and knocked a hole in the largest pumpkin in the field – just big enough to put his hand through. Scraping around the inside of the pumpkin, he filled his fist with seeds –his favourite food – but then discovered that he could not get his hand out. He pulled and thrashed until he realized he was stuck. A wise old baboon came by and said to him: “Be satisfied with half the quantity and it will be easy for you to pull out your hand.”
The moral of the story: do not attempt too much at one time. Create opportunities to learn whenever you can, such as:
- break times
- free periods
- TV time that you could sacrifice
- weekends
- school vacations
- any learning opportunity that comes your way.
Don’t try to devour the whole pumpkin in one go – be satisfied with a few pips at a time.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
How can I cope with the many things I have to learn?
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | laptops, training | 2 Comments
There are indeed many facets of your laptop that you will learn about over the course of time. Once you’ve made a start, you may feel overwhelmed and be tempted to give up, owing to the sheer amount of material you have to work through.
Take one step at a time and you will get there. If the goal seems impossible, take courage from Aesop’s fable: The Crow and the Pitcher.
A crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a pitcher which had once been full of water, but when the crow put its beak into the mouth of the pitcher he found that only very little water was left in it, and that he could not reach far enough down to get at it. He tried, and he tried, but at last had to give up in despair. Then a thought came to him, and he took a pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.
Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.
Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.
Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher.
At last, after dropping many pebbles into the pitcher, he was encouraged when he saw the water level rising. After casting in a few more pebbles he was able to quench his thirst and save his life.
The moral of the story: little by little does the trick.
You do not have to learn everything at once. Learn what you can today, try to apply it as soon as you can, and pebble by pebble, little by little, you will get to the point where you will be reaping the rewards of your efforts.
Giving up is not an option.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
Where do I start?
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | laptops, training | No Comments
There is a variety of ways in which you could learn how to use your laptop. Making a start is sometimes the most difficult part. It has been said that a long journey starts with a first step – your problem may be that you don’t know how to take that first step.
When you want to learn to play the piano, the first thing you do is to sit down in front of it, open it and let your fingers rest on the keys. It is not different with your laptop. You can only learn by doing. Open the laptop, switch it on, and let your fingers rest on the keyboard – then start exploring.
Once you have chosen a method to learn – either using a personal tutor or going on a course – you will discover the basics. You will get to know the different parts, how your laptop works, and what you must do to make it work.
You don’t have to learn everything about your laptop at once. When you acquired a cell phone the first time, you probably first learned how to make calls. Thereafter you learned the other features, such as sending text messages, or using the camera facility. You must see the process of learning to use your laptop in the same light: start with the basics and then learn step by step.
As you learn new things, apply them straight away – try to see how they could help you in your job. For instance, if you learn the basics of a word processor, you will be able to think about many ways in which you could use it – try typing your next test paper using your newly acquired word processing skills. While doing this, you may discover that you do not know how to do certain things, but then you could ask someone for assistance. In this way you will be learning progressively.
Don’t be scared to take the first step of your laptop journey.
Develop a positive attitude. Say to yourself: “I need the laptop; I want to use it; I can master it.”
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
Which of the learning methods yield the best results?
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 | laptops, training | 3 Comments
With so many different ways in which you can learn to use your laptop you can’t be blamed if you ask: “Which one is the best.” If you are very keen to start using your laptop, you may be tempted to try all of them.
Pay heed to the lesson in Aesop’s fable: The Fox and the Cat.
A fox was boasting to a cat of its clever devices for escaping its enemies. “I have a whole bag of tricks,” he said, “which contains a hundred ways of escaping my enemies.”
“I have only one,” said the cat; “but I can generally manage with that.”
Just at that moment they heard the cry of a pack of hounds coming towards them, and the cat immediately scampered up a tree and hid herself in the boughs. “This is my plan,” said the cat. “What are you going to do?”
The fox thought first of one way, then of another, and while he was debating the hounds came nearer and nearer, and at last the fox in his confusion was caught up by the hounds and soon killed by the huntsmen.
The cat, who had been looking on, said: “Better one safe way than a hundred on which you cannot reckon.”
The moral of the story: find a method that works best for you, and don’t waste time debating the merits of the options.
From experience you know that learners have different learning styles. As a teacher, you also have a learning style that suits you best. In all likelihood you will use a blended approach – this means that you will use a blend of complementary methods to produce the best results. For instance, you may start with one or other form of face-to-face training, and then follow it up with computer based training.
Choose the method, or the combination of methods, that works best for you. The goal – learning to use your laptop – is more important than the learning method.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
How can I derive benefit from partner programmes?
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | laptops, training | No Comments
Several large computer companies have declared themselves to be partners of education, and have launched training programmes to assist educators. Examples of such programmes are:
- Microsoft’s Partners in Learning initiative
- Intel’s Teach to the Future programme.
These programmes are offered free of charge to teachers and have the potential to take you to a higher level of proficiency in the use of your laptop. Their big advantage is that they are specifically geared towards educators and will help you to learn to use your laptop as a teaching tool.
Many teachers undergo a sense of being lost when they go on one of these courses and feel that the course is pitched too high for them. The reason is that they do not have sufficient basic computer knowledge when they enter the course – a certain degree of computer proficiency is a pre-requisite.
When such courses become available, first find out what knowledge level is expected of you. If you do not measure up at present, it would be in your interest to obtain the required skills before attempting the course; otherwise you will not gain full benefit from it.
Many other programmes are available where you could become a “master” teacher or a “distinguished” educator or a “thought leader” once you’ve completed the programme. At times this title may be accompanied by a free computer. It would be fine for you to aspire to one of these courses – just make sure that you’ve laid a firm foundation and that you have enough basic knowledge to be able to cope with the course.
Partner programmes could be a great way for you to become expert laptop users. Make use of them. But do not bite off more than you can chew – first grow your teeth.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
How can computer facitities at my school help me?
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | laptops, training | No Comments
You are in a fortunate position if you are teaching at a school where computers are available for teaching and learning. The computer facility in your school can be a great help to you to learn how to use your laptop, and also to get optimal use from it.
Many teachers are hesitant to hook up with the experts at school. Don’t feel intimidated by your peers when they appear to have more technical knowledge than you – learn from them as much as you can. The brief fable of the Boy and the Nettles contains a powerful message for you.
A boy was stung by a nettle. He ran home and said to his mother: “Although it hurts me very much, I only touched it gently.”
“That was just why it stung you,” said his mother. “The next time you touch a nettle, grasp it boldly, and it will be soft as silk to your hand, and not in the least hurt you.”
The moral of the story: whatever you do, do with all your might. Don’t be half-hearted.
If your school has computers, use all the opportunities that this may present to you.
Training: Make use of any training opportunities that are arranged by the school, or offered to the school by training institutions.
Printing: If you can’t afford a printer, take your printing to school and print what you need on the school’s printer.
Internet: If you don’t have an internet connection of your own, use the facilities at school. You can download material you need and save it for later use.
Vendors: Hardware and software vendors often do presentations or demonstrations at your school. View these sessions as learning opportunities. At times they may even allow you to use their products as part of their licence agreements with the school.
Your school could be a valuable source of encouragement and help to you while you are coming to grips with your laptop. Don’t be like the boy with the nettle: grab the opportunity firmly with both hands.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
How can I succeed in using computer based training?
Saturday, May 2nd, 2009 | laptops, training | No Comments
It is likely that some form of computer based training (CBT) is already available to you. Your laptop may be preloaded with some CBT material, or you may receive a set of CDs or DVDs, or you may be given access a course on the internet.
If this is the only – or the main – way in which you could learn how to use your laptop as a productivity tool and a teaching tool, you are encouraged to come to grips with CBT as soon as possible. There are positive steps you could take to achieve this.
Find someone who could teach you the basics of the laptop – this form of tuition is called face-to-face training. Enrol in a training initiative of your education department – if it is available – or find a commercial course. Alternatively, ask a colleague or friend to help you, or even ask a child for assistance. Read your laptop’s manual from cover to cover. Learn as much as you can until you are comfortable to perform basic operations.
If you are using CBT software loaded on your machine, or a DVD, you need to learn how to navigate – move around – your system so that you can find the material. If the CBT material is on the internet, ensure that you know how to surf the net before you start with your course. Discuss your requirements with the person who is providing face-to-face training.
You need certain qualities to make successful use of CBT:
Motivation: Continually remind yourself of the reason why you are using CBT material. Set goals for yourself and work towards achieving them.
Determination: If you have a stubborn streak about you, it may serve you well in this instance. “Give up” must not be in your vocabulary.
Self-discipline: Since there is no lesson schedules imposed upon you by others, you will have to be a self starter. You decide when you will engage with CBT material. Flexibility is a big advantage of CBT, but it also poses a danger – it is only by disciplining yourself to stick to your own schedule that that you will be able to make a success of this mode of learning. If you’ve tried self-study methods in the past, and did not succeed, you have a problem – you will have to work extra hard at cultivating self-discipline.
A last bit of advice on this topic: ensure that you have a person – a buddy or a mentor – who is available and willing to assist you when you get stuck.
Click here to find answers to more laptop related questions.
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