I along with at least 30+ high schools was asked to attend a workshop that will train us to train our teacher at our respective schools and that was all. Upon meeting with Mrs. Sandhya Gunness was when we finally got a better idea what were go to be dealing with. She did an excellent job making us feel like we will be able to do this and so we dove into this interactive online training workshop. Once enrolled and attending meetings, I learnt various tools that would be able to assist me in my online sessions. Looking at week’s one objective had me a little nervous at first but then as we start working everything started to flow. We were going to look objectives such as
1. develop trainers personal skills and knowledge about Digital Education Leadership and the curriculum
2. develop trainers ability to educate managers, teachers, students about the concepts covered in the C-DELTA programme
3. help trainers familiarize managers, teachers, and students with the use of the C-DELTA platform and downloadable pdfs for use in their own schools/institutions
The entire concept CDELTA was new to me but there were several items that I was a bit familiar with as I had recently completed a workshop of digital learning. As a head of department for IT teachers, I feel that this course makes me better informed and more cautious of the decisions I make online, as well as it has given me the opportunity to use more tools I was introduced to. The fact we had to search for a digital leader showed me that there is so much that we need to be careful about when using the internet in that we leave digital footprints to could use by other unfortunately sometime for bad. This was an eye opener for me and it is definitely something that I will inform my staff and students about when we meet. Since I am in process of completed this training, I will continue to be more aware of my digital footprints and incorporate more interactive tools in my online lessons that for sure.
I was impressed with the Mentimeter that our Mrs. Gunness used for brain-storming. I like how it allows us to think fast, and it is definitely something that I can use as a revision tool or even testing previous knowledge. I will definitely encourage my colleague to take this C-delta course in order for them to become aware of new ideas and concepts as a digital leader. Just as how this was an eye opener for me I am sure this will be very eye-opening for my staff and students. The courses in "Digital skills for Africa", is also something that will ensure that my staff and students get to see as I believe that they can find something interesting there. Sitting here and reflecting on these past few days, I now realized how digitally literate I am becoming. This experience has just boost my digital journey in that I got to read the modules, search for myself, and engage in forums/discussions that was challenging at first but worthwhile. As a Digital Education Leader, I will encourage teachers to become content creators rather than consumers.
I must say that the overall experience was welcoming especially in a time like this where COVID19 has really changed how we would normally do this. Now that almost everything is being done online we really need to make everyone aware of the good and bad of being online. I will try to really make myself available to offer assistance and training to ensure that my teachers and students develop their skill properly.