LIT2T Leadership Guide

30 TO: TABLE OF CONTENTS 5.2 Associated Professional Development Options There is a wealth of related technologies and instructional methods on the Internet. In addition to traditional conferences, online conferences, podcasts, courses, professional blogs and e-newsletters represent real opportunities for professional growth. An example of an excellent, relevant online resource is Moodle.org, a popular international web space for developers and users of Moodle, and the learning management system for LearnIT2teach. Motivated participants can mine deeper into the functionality and pedagogy of Moodle and apply this knowledge to their courseware. Updates on current professional development opportunities can be found in the project’s e-newsletter, ESL LINC digital news! Participants are automatically subscribed. For more details, see the link in Appendix A13. The notion of online professional communities for instructors and learners has become extremely popular over the past decade. Communities such as the Khan Academy, Classroom and Merlot use web pages, blogs, forums, archives, synchronous chats, voice and web camera collaboration tools to enable authentic communication and build learning communities. A list of suggested PD options can be found in Appendix A2 of this document. Tutela and Professional Development IRCC’s national repository, Tutela, offers professional development options for language instructors across Canada. Tutela.ca provides videoconferencing rooms, webinars, conference announcements, screen casting demonstrations and an archive of articles and practical lessons. This is a valuable new resource for language educators and policy makers across Canada.