One of my favorite online resources, iCivics, has joined with Adobe, Participate, and ClickView to offer a series of free professional development videos about online teaching. TOM (Teaching Online Masterclass) includes short (less than 2 min. each) videos produced by Makematic featuring advice given by staff contributors from all over the world. The various categories include such themes as “Technology as a Tool,” and “Digital Well-Being.” The one that I imagine many teachers will jump to is, “Pedagogical Strategies.”
Different people will find different TOM videos to be helpful to them. For example, I liked the idea for giving video feedback online – using a screen casting program to record as you look at what has been submitted and commenting during the process – but the one on “Think, Pair, Share” did not tell me something I didn’t already know. The good news is that the videos are so brief, that you can spend 15 minutes on the site and feel like you’ve learned something during that time.
TOM also has a PDF manual that goes into a bit more detail about the backgrounds of the contributors and the videos that are available. The manual includes a link to a Padlet with more resources, as well as information for how to sign up to receive their research, how to get involved with their blog, and an invitation to join their group on LinkedIn.
Once teachers have a chance to develop reliable routines, and the technology becomes more robust, they will want to learn more about the best pedagogical practices for this medium, and TOM can help them do that.
