Online+Professional+Development+TAP

=Online Professional Development - TAP=

Big Picture
In this team application problem you will review online resources for teachers and determine the best one for your Personal Learning Network. You will post your selection on your individual wiki before class. During class the team will select the best one, share this on the team wiki, and discuss their decision with other teams by using the discussion posts features of wikis. This TAP has a BEFORE class section that needs to be done before in class in order to receive credit.

Part 1 - BEFORE CLASS
There are many online resources for teachers. In this assignment we will look at just a few of these. There are many more, but these are some of the most used resources.

Each team member should review the Teacher Sites listed below. Each team member should select the two teacher sites that he or she things is best. To help you review the sites, use the questions below.
 * How does the resource promote professional development?
 * How would using this resource make you a better teacher?
 * What is the quality of the actual resources that are provided? (look a little deeper then just the opening page, just because a site says they have certain things, e.g. lesson plans, that doesn't mean that theses resources are any good.
 * How easily can I find the information that I need on this resource?

For each site that the team member selects as one of the 2 best sites there should be a paragraph describing why that site was selected as one of the top two best sites. The paragraph should address the review questions listed above and demonstrate that the team member carefully reviewed the site. You will share your descriptions by creating a page on your individual wiki called "Personal Learning Network." On this page put the descriptions of the two sites that you selected as best. Also put a link to each site.

Teacher Sites
 * Hot Chalk : []
 * Nortel LearnI: []
 * Teachnology: []
 * Teachers Domain: [|http://www.teachersdomain.org/](You can view all the resources without signing in)
 * Teachers Corner: []
 * Edutopia: []
 * Teachers First: []
 * Teachers Network: []
 * Teaching Heart: []
 * New Teacher University: []

Part 2 During Class
Each team member will share his or her choices as the best teacher sites. As a team decide the one that you think is the best one for a teacher's PLN.

Create a new page on the team wiki entitled "Online Professional Development Resource." On the page provide the following information for the sites that your team selected as the best one:
 * Name and sponsor of the resource
 * URL and link to the resources
 * Features that make this resource outstanding for teacher professional development and why you selected this resource. Provide reasons that will convince the rest of the class that the one that you selected was the best.

Part 3 - Review of Selections Made by Other Teams
Instructions for this part will be given in class.

Be sure to turn in this sheet with the TAP Attendance and Evaluation sheet in your team folder.

Scoring

 * Item || Points Possible || Points Earned ||
 * The team worked together well during the application problem as determined by observation. (I will look for the following things: active listening, eye contact, equal participation in discussion by all members.) || 5 ||  ||
 * The team created a page on the team wiki with the resource selected by the team. The page included the following information
 * Name and sponsor of the resource
 * URL and link to the resource
 * Features that make this resource outstanding for teacher professional development. || 5 ||  ||
 * The team presented a convincing argument supporting their selection for the best resource. There were at least three reasons to support their choice. || 5 ||  ||
 * The team effectively participated in the online class discussions after the selections were made following the directions given in class. || 5 ||  ||
 * Team Score || 20 ||  ||
 * Individual Score - Each team member will receive points for the individual part of this assignment. The final grade for each student will be the team score added to the individual score.
 * The team member created a page in his or her individual wiki called "Personal Learning Network."
 * The team member selected 2 of the resources that s/he thought were the best ones. There was a link to each resource on the PLN page.
 * The team member described the reasons for selecting each resources using the review questions provided as an outline. The descriptions were thorough and demonstrated careful evaluation of the resource. || 5 ||  ||