Buies Creek, N.C.—Educators from across the state shared ideas and expertise during an Eta State Professional Development Day sponsored by Campbell University and the national teacher education honor society Delta Kappa Gamma. The event, which took place via teleconference, was held Saturday, March 26, at Campbell’s RTP site where the speakers broadcast toother sites. The five other sites, including East Carolina University, Tri County Community College, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Western Carolina Universityhad teachers in attendance who were actively engaged in the day’s activities as they interacted with the speakers.
Dr. Carolyn Maidon, Director of the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program at Campbell, coordinated the event through a Cornetet ProfessionalDevelopment grant from Delta Kappa Gamma. The focus of the conference was using research-based instructional strategies for the 21st century learner and included information on how to effectively teach digital native students, using brain-based research in the classroom and blending technology and brain-based teaching.
During the past four years, North Carolina education has been engaged in a massive reform effort, Maidon explained. The teacher education preparation programs as well as the teacher candidate and teacher standards have all been reformed to address the preparation of our students for the needs of the 21st century. According to research conducted by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel in their book, “21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times,” the skill sets students will need include life and career skills, learning and innovation skills, information, media and technology skills, financial and business skills, entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy and health literacy to name a few.
“Highlights of the conference included strategies for teaching the digital mind of the 21st century student, information on brain-based research that has proven to enhance students’ learning and how to access thousands of inquiry-based activities, lesson plans, webinar courses and other materials through the LearnNC website,” said Maidon.
Approximately 60 educators participated in the conference.
“This is the first time I have approached professional development with teachers across the state via teleconferencing,” said Maidon. “I was aided in this effort by Eta State Regional Directors and members of our organization who located the sites in their areas and handled the amenities needed for their participants. Using teleconferencing saves the typical driving time needed to attend such events. This was so successful that I’m sure we will use this delivery method again.”
Jeanette Hedrick, coordinator of the teleconferencing sites in the western part of the state, said that all of the comments she received about the event were positive. “All reservations that I might had had about this statewide event were put to rest when some of the teachers made comments like ‘This is awesome! ‘I want to use this at my school and in my classroom,’ and, ‘Can we have more of this type of staff development?’ I must state that this is the best distance learning event I have participated in all of my many years of education and I give it an A plus!”