Monthly Technology Meetups: How I Did It & Why They Matter

There are several things very true about education and technology. One, many teachers have a hard time during the year staying on-top of the latest technology trends as they get buried in planning, grading, coaching, etc. Two, administrators don't get a lot of professional development time with teachers so sharing new technology software and techniques sometimes takes a back-burner. Lastly, students using technology in school to learn is the future of our schools and if our teachers are not trained on how to use/impliment it properly, I believe we our failing our students.

This year at my school district (Northern Lebanon), I created a monthly TCOT (Teacher Collaboration On Technology) meetup with the help of the district's technology department. The goal of the monthly meetup is to bring teachers together from around the district to:

1. Create awaress of technology sites/software that can be used effectively in the classroom.
2. Share and discuss ways we can better use technology in the classroom. 
3. Collaborate and learn from each other. 

The group started out small but as the year has went on, it has continued to get more popular. I have had a blast sharing ideas and collaborating with other teachers!

Each meeting, I start by sharing 3-5 technology websites/software that I think teachers can use in the classroom. Examples:

• Evernote
• Remind 101
• Quizlet
• Weebly
• Edmodo 

Next, I pick an education website of the month that teachers can visit to learn more information on their own. Examples:

• Mashable
• Edudemic
• Edutopia

Probably my favorite part of the meetings is I get to teach the teachers how to use a new software. In our early meetings we looked at how to use Twitter to build a PLN, use Edmodo as safe social media alternative, and this month I will be teaching how to use Remind 101: A software that allows you to safely text and remind your students.

Lastly, we spend several minutes sharing and discussing things that are working in the classroom and things we can improve. Overall the meetings last around 45 minutes.

I have provided a link on Google Drive to an example of my PowerPoint I use for the meetings. For those that can't make it, I send the PowerPoint out to all teachers for them to browse through when they get time.

Do you or your school district do something similar? Are you interested in starting something like this at your school? Let me know! There are just to many free and awesome resources for teachers not to be aware of. Any input, comments, and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-RD