My name is David Richie and I serve as the Technology Integration Specialist as well as the Robotics Program Coordinator at the Carol Morgan School of Santo Domingo. Following the request of our Principal, Nicolaas Mostert, we started with a Middle School Teacher's Portal in the year 2013.
In order to develop and organize the portal, Nicolaas and I brainstormed the most important features we needed and we created a Moodle page for faculty and staff with the following characteristics
In order to develop and organize the portal, Nicolaas and I brainstormed the most important features we needed and we created a Moodle page for faculty and staff with the following characteristics
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Accessible: It is accessible from school & home and on a desktop or any device including cell phones. |
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Dynamic: It is constantly being updated and teacher recommendations of what they need on the portal is address continuously.
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Centralized: All information is centralized under one warehouse |
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Paperless: Staff meeting agendas, minutes, forms, protocols, surveys etc., everything is now paperless. Faculty has access to download the documents, fill them up online and submit them instantly.
Systemic: Addressing the nature of international faculty turnover, the portal allows for a systemic, professional & continuous flow of information between new and returning staff.
Self-Catered PD: The portal counts with an array of tutorials ranging from something as simple as how to create a ‘Google doc’ to more sophisticated features in management programs such as power school. Each faculty selects when they need a re-fresher on something they already learnt or step by step instructions to start on a new project.
See a tutorial sample
See a tutorial sample
Continuous Support: As soon as a webinar, in house seminar, workshop or training is finished; the video presentation, the tutorial and/or resources are immediately uploaded to the Teacher’s Portal. This strategy fosters continuous, both technology integration specialists work hard at guiding the implementation of new initiatives either in person or virtually guiding faculty through uploaded tutorials or resources.
Familiar: Faculty is already used to creating Moodle pages for their students so it is easy for them to access what they need in a matter of seconds.
PLC Showcase: As part of professional communities a section of the portal is designated to showcase classroom initiatives, success stories, student achievement and school life events. Sharing our stories allows us to explore beyond our classrooms and motivates us to appreciate our colleagues by uplifting our professional communities feeling proud of each other’s accomplishments.
See a showcase sample
See a showcase sample