INFOhio ICoach

Briefly showing teachers the power of the two tools and then letting the search and refine their searches will work best, I think. Most teachers probably don't know what is at their fingertips for free rather than relying on sites like TPT for content. 

I would love to use Open Space Groups to show teachers how they can access a database of lessons and resources that align with their standards. This is an awesome free resource that I'm sure most of my teachers do not know about. I will encourage them to sign up for thier own accounts, and I will also gladly search for materials to support what they are teaching if they don't have time to do it on their own.

This could impact professional learning by freeing up valuable time spent creating lessons so that teachers can instead collaborate, learn about new resources and tools, or provide intervention support. I see this being a huge opportunity for my staff who would like to try something new but don't have the time to create new lessons and materials. 

I would like to share Open Space Groups with the high school staff; however, I know the first question asked would be, "Why should we use this when we have other sites, including Google classroom?" If anyone has a solid answer for questions like that, I'd appreciate it. 

For my own professional learning, I'm finding this helpful to learn more about what InfOhio has to offer, and as I learn more, I can share the information with my colleagues.

Hi Fiona,

What a great question! You will learn more about communities of practice in the Preparing for Presentations class in this training. Open Space offers a place for focused, intentional learning in a group of like-minded educators. The information in that class will be helpful in applying this practice in your own district.

Open Space Groups can be used as an electronic collaboration platform for educators during professional development sessions. Open Space will have a profound impact on professional learning because information can be shared and used with teachers throughout the state of Ohio. Educators will appreciate having access to relevant information from Ohio educational partners, which is just a fingertip away.

I will use Open Space Groups in future professional development when I share out what I have learned from this INFOhio ICoach training to other teachers in my building. This will be a great place that I can continue to share out with my colleagues and will not have to keep getting everyone together for every piece I want to share. Open Space Groups could impact professional learning by allowing teachers to have an easy resource that is right at our fingertips and is full of information we can use to further our teaching skills in the classroom. 

I think Open Space Groups would be great for organizing topics that we cover in our PD sessions and allow teachers from different buildings to share ideas and takeaways from our training sessions.  Elementary, middle, and high school teachers all have very different perspectives and it always helps to see how other grade levels approach new ideas.  A previous post mentioned that something similar can be done with Google Classroom, which is true, but I think if teachers have access to the different groups, it could open up a bigger dialogue than Google Classroom alone.  

I would like to use Open Space Groups for our PLC time, so that teachers can ask questions, share resources, and post meeting notes from what was discussed. This resource can offer teachers with a multitude of conversations that they can pull information from and resources that they can gain useful insight on. I have been a part of other professional development-type discussion boards and always find helpful resources and different ways of solving problems that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.

I will create a group that I can share with teachers that I am working with on specific projects.  The group will have a great impact on both of our professional learning as we discover new resources and easier ways to share information.  I like the idea of having a group that others can join at any time and; we won't have to have long email conversations where something can be missed or overlooked. 

I love this Tankeeya! Open Space groups are a great way to avoid the long email threads which can be hard to find after the fact!

I will use the open space in our icoach to see everyones different ideas and tips. Also show the teachers to show them to the free  access they  have for ideas, lesssons, and so much more.   

I will share group suggestions with TBTs, showing them the resources that are available and the large professional community with whom they can connect.

I would like to use Open Space groups in future professional development to allow teachers across buildings to share how they are using a resource in their classroom and what is working for them.  Making connections across buildings could help our teachers learn and grow as educators.  We only know what we are familiar and comfortable with.  When we have the opportunity to explore and move outside our comfort zone, we learn of new things that could be beneficial to our classrooms.

I participate in other social media groups for elementary, middle, and high school librarians.  I see open space as a similar tool.  A space to share ideas, ask questions and receive knowledgable answers from other professionals.  This should help me with honing my skills and make me a better teacher for students and staff at my school.

Having access to other professionals in your field to discuss implementation of resources or troubleshoot resource bugs is invaluable!  I would recommend all of my librarians create Open Space Accounts and check message boards before they present a resource for any tips or lesson ideas.  It would also be a great place to share our successes or missteps making implementation of a resource more meaningful for the next person.   OpenSpace would also be a wealth of knowledge for teachers integrating resources in their classrooms looking for lesson ideas or simply a place to begin.  

As others have responded, I envision using Open Space Groups for collaboration during and after professional learning sessions that I lead. I also see myself recommending it to specific teachers who would use this platform to discover and develop ideas/projects rooted in their curriculum.

Open Space Groups would create a mor collaboartive learning experience in which I could invite groups of teachers to share how tehy are using technology and ways they can incorporate resources such as INFOhio. 

Open Space resembles Facebook groups. You join groups based on your interests or based on areas that need support. 

I would show how Open Space can support educators in their classrooms. Maybe I'd even create a Group in Open Space for just our teachers to use to connect.

Open Space Groups  is a great resource with connecting with others who have the same focus.  It could be a great way to share information.

I will use the Open Space Groups in future professional development by having my coworkers join and create our group that we can share our instructional materials with each other instead of emailing back and forth constantly. This would help all of us tremendously, and it could be shared with our other departments that they can also create their groups to share instructional materials with their fellow members in their department. This would impact our professional learning by giving more insights to what our fellow teachers are doing and how they may use a different strategy or teaching method that may not have been done in our own classroom. 

We are working on updating the curriculums at FCCC and I am hoping to use this with our English Department.  They will be the first group to give this a try with.  

That is great! I would love to hear how it works for them!

I think this will be useful however, I want to be able to use all of INFOhio and teach my teachers how to use it for their students.  Open Space itself I think will be useful however, it feels more like an online college course posts for the resources.  I think we could add more to the Hubs.

Also, it says we are suppose to read the users guide however, I cannot access the users guide when I click on it.  My facilitator has requested access more than once and still has not been granted access.  So, if we don't have the users guide, that doesn't reflect well on Open Space because if you don't have access to the users guide, how do you expect us to learn more about it and use it when we have questions? I feel it reflects poorly on the administrative end of OpenSpace and doesn't promote quality education lessons when we are told to read it in the syllabus. 

Hi Mary, 

Just happened to see this and when we checked, the shared settings were incorrect after an internal Google Drive update. We have changed the settings to anyone with the link can view.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

I think Open Space will be helpful in solving issues that others have already experienced. 

Open Space will help staff find new ideas and resources to benefit their teaching. They may also connect with other professionals to discuss concerns and questions they might have.

I have never used Open Space Groups before. This is an awesome tool that I'm sure most of the teachers I work with haven't tapped into as well. I will use Open Space Groups in future professional development to share both a place for teachers to connect with others and find resources as well as a place to connect with each other. Open Space Groups will provide a place for teachers to collaborate with others beyond just those in our district. 

I am super excited about this. I have access to the data for our 50 schools. I can determine common issue (middle school math for example) and create a group for our math teachers across the state. I can share resources to it, faciliate the sharing of best practices, etc. 

I look forward to using Open Space Groups as a way to help teachers at my school connect with other educators and make access to educational resources easier. I also plan on using this resource to not only help myself stay up to date with any new developments but to also share any information I have gained with others.

The impact this can have on professional learning is immense. This free virtual community space can allow teachers and other education professionals to connect with one another and share what knowledge they have accumulated from their experiences.

The number one way that I will utilize the open space groups is by overviewing the site/forum with our teaching and learning staff members.  There are groups dedicated to professional development, distance learning, career tech, etc. I’m sure everyone would be able to find a group to serve their interests and help them grow as educators.  Open Space Groups is even more empowering when there may not be a group already present.  It just takes a single person to create the group they see a need for.  It’s an awesome tool for connecting with educators outside of your home district.  I can also see the possibility of using groups as somewhat of a backchannel chat during professional development sessions.