Looking to step up your game as an education administrator? There are several opportunities available online to further your educational acumen. From watching webinars to joining networking groups, you’ll never be at a loss for new opportunities to learn. To help you get started on your journey, we’ve scaled down the process. Here are three steps to becoming an education expert.
- Watching and Listening. There are tons of podcasts online you can subscribe to to further your educational knowledge. Here are just a couple that we love: The Press Release by EdTechTeam – This podcast dives into the minds of innovative and creative educators and shares the best ideas in education with a focus on technology, innovation and empowering students. Google Teacher Tribe - This weekly podcast is designed to give K-12 educators practical ideas for using G Suite and other Google tools. Chromebook Classroom Podcast - This podcast explores how Chromebooks are impacting the K-12 classroom. It is hosted by Google Certified Trainer John Sowash, who invites guests to chat about their Chromebook Classroom experience on this monthly show. Cult of Pedagogy - Hosted by Jennifer Gonzalez, this podcast covers teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform and education technology.
You can also join the Microsoft Educator Community where you share feedback with peers and become a Certified Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert (MIEE).
- Find a Mentor. Twitter is a great source to find a mentor. Use Twitter’s search to seek out influencers and people you want to follow. Once you find someone to follow, you can build on that virtual relationship by promoting tweets, asking for advice and commenting on their blogs, and then simply ask if they would be willing to act as a mentor to you, either virtually or face-to-face.
- Use your own Resources. Tap into your own teachers, MIEEs and GoogleEIs and use them as resources for professional development. One way to do this is to hold an unconference and ask them to speak. An unconference is a grassroots conference where the content is provided by the attendees, not outside experts. Don’t think of them as unofficial events, rather bring unconferences in-house as the official professional development. You can also create Personal Learning Communities, or PLCs, which are a group of teachers with a shared interest or mutual commitment. You choose the focus, like hybrid teaching models, and allow teachers to sign up for the PLCs they align with most.
Start with these three steps and you’ll be on your way to becoming an education expert in no time.
