Carter's Adventures in Educational Technology

Micro-Credentials, What are They? When most people think of micro-credentials, they think of badges, and they are similar in some ways but different in others. Both are ways for people to show what they have learned, while badges tend to be specific to a particular app, micro-credentials are linked to specific skills. Badges tend to show an ability to use specific technology, micro-credentials are earned by submitting proof of application of knowledge in specific areas.  My innovation project is to bring micro-credentials to my district to enhance our technology training and our current badging system in order to personalize our training. I will start with showing this call to action video as an "advertisement" for micro-credentials. I have already spoke with my supervisor and he likes the idea! I wrote a  proposal letter , plan outline , and literature review  to support my innovation project. We are already working on the survey for June. I am excited to start t

How crazy am I? 26 Kids, 26 Passions, 2 Teachers, and 1 Lab Every summer my school district hosts the Know Your Impact  conference. Three days of breakout sessions covering a different pillar each day. On the 3rd day we have a student spotlight "expo" where each campus has a group of students displaying the technology that they have used the past year. It is made up of GT (Gifted and Talented) students, Makerspace projects, STEM classes, and CTE (Career Technology Education) students. This becomes a bit of a competition between the elementary campuses and this year I was asked to help out with the GT program on a large technology based unit for one of the campuses I work with. I jumped at the chance to try out a personal project I learned about last summer called Genius Hour. I wanted to try it but I am no longer in the classroom on a daily basis so I drove right in! First 3 Meetings Our GT program grew over spring break, our numbers swelled from 8 to 26! This meant

It is my plan to implement a micro-credential system into our technology training for teachers at Mabank ISD to allow teachers to learn new ways to implement technology effectively into their daily classroom activities.  Phase I: Development  Recruitment - June 2018  Pitch to Instructional Media Team (IMT) idea of microcredentials  Survey teachers at our Know Your Impact Summer Conference (June 6-8) and seek volunteers.  What do they like about the current badging system?  What changes would they make?  How much time would they invest in technology training?  After school, In-service, Online Webinars? What topics/applications would they like to see offered?  What form would work best for them? Face-to-face, Online, Blended? Would you be willing to participate in a microcredential pilot program?  What type of incentive would motivate you to actively participate in current badging system?   Meet with IMT to analyze survey results. Discuss which 3-5 topics to tu