Many school students across the country are returning to classrooms as COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease.
For teachers who had to quickly adapt to online teaching through the pandemic, ACS is offering a free webinar series aimed at helping them improve their online teaching skills.
Beginning on Wednesday with a webinar about creating video content, the webinar series looks at the intersection between teaching and technology.
Course facilitator, Catherine Newington, said the initial aim is to get people engaged with the pedagogy of online learning, rather than focusing purely on technology.
“Teachers are always asking about what tools they can use for online classes and a lot start to put the technology first,” Newington said.
“Then they have to adapt the classroom and themselves to fit the technology, rather than the other way around.”
The eight-part webinar series looks to support teachers during and beyond COVID-19 – a time when teachers were suddenly thrust into the realm of online learning.
“Using digital technology for learning is an area I’ve always been passionate about,” said Newington who spent 12 years as a teacher.
“I know there are a lot of teachers who have felt overwhelmed during this crisis so I want to help them navigate this space and feel more confident with the technology.”
After exploring the way technology can be used for remote learning, the webinar series then goes into ways to teach the Digital Technologies Curriculum.
“This is a relatively new area of teaching that’s all about how digital technology works,” Newington said.
“It looks at hardware, software, data representation, algorithms – all the things that make computers work.”
There will also be a chance to hear from industry professionals who will speak about how the Australian education system can best produce young people with 21st century skills.
The webinars are free to register for and count toward an hour of professional development.
