My Community: Talking About EdTech
Written by Yasmeen Robbins, Lea(R)n Summer Fellow
Yasmeen currently serves as an Instructional Coach in Cumberland County. She recently earned her master’s degree in education with focus on literacy. As part of the LeaRn team, she talks with teachers and advocates for LearnTrials.
During my first year of teaching, I constantly wondered if my efforts in the classroom had actually impacted student learning and achievement. My school’s administration always gave me positive feedback on my lessons and style of instruction. However, that reassurance never curbed my desire to learn what my colleagues were doing in their classrooms. I wanted to know how my practices stacked up. I believed in the literacy and math blocks that I created, but I knew my peers could probably teach me a lot.
Throughout my career in education, I have noticed that teachers who share their practices are much more confident. These days, teachers share thoughts and advice using various outlets, such as blogs, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, Facebook, etc. Sharing allows teachers to become reflective practitioners, which means they constantly evaluate and modify classroom practices to improve the learning process.
Educators often talk about classroom tactics, but sharing feedback on digital resources occurs less frequently. Many teachers feel overwhelmed by the vast education technology market, but the LeaRn community can help. The LearnTrials platform enables teachers to build professional networks and share feedback on any product.
Basically, LearnTrials eliminates uncertainty for educators using technology. Teachers can peek into other classrooms and schools by viewing their peers’ personal libraries, which display tools they use, want or need. These libraries can be shared and discussed by the LeaRn community, which involves educators within districts and across the country. The value of this platform is beyond measure because it removes guesswork from the classroom. There is true power in sharing information, and LearnTrials gives that power back to teachers.
Our platform helps district leaders gather feedback from teachers, while conducting product analyses, so they can effectively budget for edtech. Subscribe to our newsletter! And follow LearnTrials on Twitter!!
