Getting Up and Running on Classroom Technology Doesn’t Have to Break the Budget
Professional development is an integral part of a successful ed-tech implementation in any classroom. Teachers must know how to use these technologies so that they can engage their students effectively. Many companies and websites offer webinars, workshops, and online or in-class courses to help train teachers to be proficient with educational technologies, but many of these training sessions come at a steep price. With a little searching, it’s possible to find a plethora of groups and websites offering free training resources. To save you time, we have compiled a list of some of the best of these free resources.
The 15 tech training resources below can get you off to a great start supporting your teachers’ ongoing professional development activities.
- Teacher Training Videos
Teacher Training Videos, an online database created by Russell Stannard, contains training videos on a variety of subjects, such as teaching online, flipped classrooms, and interactive whiteboards. This website was featured in our Top 20 Influencers in Ed-Tech blog.
- Adobe Education Exchange: ConnectED
ConnectED is an initiative by Adobe, the well-known software company, that aims to help students express their creativity and build digital skills. This section of their site offers access to both free and low-cost online workshops and courses to help train teachers in technology.
The Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) is a curated collection of free and open online teaching, learning, and faculty development services contributed and used by an international education community. MERLOT is a program of the California State University System, but it offers some useful free resources to those not in the system.
- OpenLearn: Educational Technology
OpenLearn offers free online courses on a variety of topics. The educational technology portion of their website collects expert blogs, free courses, and other resources specific to the ed-tech sector of teacher training and discovery.
- Learning to Teach Online Podcast
Although podcasts are often overlooked as a method of teacher training, this podcast ‒ which is free on iTunes ‒ offers over 50 episodes of guides and lessons to help teachers learn how to use technology to teach their students. A wide variety of topics is covered in this video and PDF-based podcast for teachers.
EdTechTeacher offers free tools for teachers, such as webinars, lessons, and app suggestions, to help them learn about teaching with ed-tech. In addition to their Free Tools for Teachers section, they have a blog that posts tips and tricks, other resources, and workshops and presentations for a price.
- The U.S. Department of Education: Office of Educational Technology
The United States Department of Education offers a variety of ed-tech training resources through their Office of Educational Technology. This office works to improve the use of educational technology in U.S. schools, and their website connects teachers to a collection of tools and resources that can help them learn how to best facilitate technology use in their classrooms.
- Intel Teach Elements
Intel offers access to engaging online professional development courses to help K-12 teachers engage students with digital learning in all subject areas. These courses are free, and course facilitation materials are also available to integrate into currently existing professional development plans.
- EdTech Leaders Online
EdTech Leaders Online provides research-based programs and courses to enable organizations to build successful online and blended learning programs. Some of their offered resources include online professional development, custom development paths, virtual and blended learning information and training, and webinars.
SimpleK12 offers more than 800 hours of training topics that are organized into specific and helpful categories such as desktop applications, digital media, and interactive whiteboards. These training lessons are presented in the form of videos, which can be downloaded and easily distributed to teachers.
- Free Technology for Teachers
Free Technology for Teachers is a collection of PDF guides written by Richard Byrne. These guides walk teachers through the use of Web tools and Google apps. In addition to providing these guides, Free Technology for Teachers connects to a blog and tutorials created by Byrne to help teachers engage students in unique ways with educational technology.
- Microsoft Corporate Citizenship: Training
This simple but helpful list of sites by Microsoft links to free training resources and additional training opportunities focused mainly around the use of Microsoft software and products. Here teachers can learn about basic computer concepts, or receive advanced certifications through additional fee-based programs.
Edudemic has a special page titled “The Teacher’s Guides to Technology and Learning,” which offers teachers some of the best and most popular resources available today. These easy-to-read guides are a cultivated collection of tools to help teachers learn how to teach with and use educational technology.
ClassTechTips is a blog by ed-tech and curriculum consultant Monica Burns, who collects educational technology resources for teachers to help them discover new ways to use technology in the classroom.
- Mimio Educator Blog
Mimio’s very own blog is full of rich and helpful resources to help teachers learn how to make better use of the technology in their classrooms. These include 25 Cool Hacks for Google Docs in the Classroom, The Ultimate Cheat Sheet on Mobile Devices for the Classroom, and 10 Ways to Get the Most out of Your Classroom iPads. These posts lead to a variety of other free resources to help you get the most out of your ed-tech!
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