The Need for Quality Edtech Professional Development (PD)

Presented by Darri Stephens, Director, Community Marketing, Wonder Workshop; and Bryan L. Miller, Director of Strategic Outreach in Education, Wonder Workshop
Sponsored by Wonder Workshop

Watch the Recording

If you view the recording and would like a CE certificate, join the Coding & Robotics K-8 community and go to the CE Quizzes link in the Community Toolbox.

With the ever-changing influx of technologies into today’s schools, the need for quality professional development (PD) is not just a nice to have, but a necessity. The State of the K-12 Market 2014 claimed, “If ever there was a need for high-quality, sustained professional development, it is now, as educators face a perfect storm of factors demanding top performance.”

In this edWebinar, Darri Stephens and Bryan L. Miller of Wonder Workshop review of some current research around the state of professional development for today’s K-12 educators. Learn about Wonder Workshop’s new initiative aimed at explaining the “why” instead of just the “how” of integrating computer science into daily instruction for meaningful shifts towards 21st-century teaching and learning. Discover resources and opportunities to help you get started on your own personalized PD journey.

This recorded session will benefit early education educators, K-2 teachers, SPED educators, librarians, tech specialists, administrators, and makerspace facilitators. Learn more about quality edtech professional development.

About the Presenters

Having taught students from elementary to graduate school, Darri Stephens enjoys connecting those in the education community through her Director of Community Marketing position at Wonder Workshop. A lifelong educator, Darri melds her love of content development, instructional design, educational research, and the ever-changing edtech world daily. Her award-winning work with educational leaders, from those in the classroom to those at the state level, is helping K-12 classrooms integrate technology thoughtfully and meaningfully. Inspired by her teaching in Los Angeles and NYC public schools for over ten years, she has earned master’s degrees in education from both Harvard University and Stanford University. Darri started her career as a Teach for America corps member. Previously, Darri was Senior Director for Education Content at Common Sense.

With over 15 years of experience in education, Bryan L. Miller serves as Director of Strategic Outreach in Education for Wonder Workshop, creators of Dash, Dot and Cue CleverBots. He has previously held roles as teacher and administrator in private and public education for K-12 schools, and teacher in higher education, all of which has provided him a full scope and understanding of the educational sector and has afforded him unique opportunities in the field. His experiences in digital leadership, curriculum design, professional development, 1:1 implementation, computer science curricular development, and strategic planning allow him to seamlessly work with all schools, with all needs. He is an international keynoter and presenter, and highly involved throughout social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @EdTechNerd.

Join the Coding & Robotics K-8 community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, view past edWebinars, take a quiz to receive a CE certificate for a past edWebinar, and access free resources.

Wonder Workshop creates engaging, hands-on learning tools, programming languages, and curriculum that bring STEM and coding to life for grades K-8. Robotics fosters critical thinking skills at an early age, encourages creativity, and turns students into makers rather than consumers. Wonder Workshop is the creator of the Dash and Dot robots. Let’s inspire students to be future leaders in technology. Find out more at makewonder.com