Ran a successful training day today on our IWB program that looked to provide time and training for three distinct groups on our staff - (1) teachers who currently have an ActivBoard in their classroom [mentors] (2) teachers who have been advised an ActivBoard will be installed in the early stages of 2006 [proteges] and (3) other staff who aren't ready to make the plunge yet but want to be kept in the loop. So it was a challenge trying to design a program that gave a bit to everyone. I went with a quick mini-keynote style presentation at the start outlining our IWB journey so far. Link to ppt presentation here. I then wanted staff to start getting their mindset around where education is going and what impact technology is having on themselves and their students as learners. Another simple ppt file shown to support this.

The mentors and proteges spent time working together and then I introduced del.icio.us to the whole group as a collaborative way of building a communal digital library. Interesting that even after I explained the concept of social bookmarking, someone asked if they could make their account private. Got to love what del.icio.us calls it - antisocial! Maybe someone who wants that privacy factor would be better off sticking to backflip.

After lunch, I spent some time with the proteges giving them a taste of constructing a mock lesson in ActivStudio which they then presented back to their mentors. Great day - got positive feedback from a number of staff. I was glad it hit the mark and maybe my presentation skills are getting better. Or maybe it's because I got away from the "sage on the stage" routine and truly was a "guide on the side" for the best part of the day after using my initial presentations to set the scene. Cool. Back to the real start of the school year tomorrow.