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September 15, 2001
Online Professional Development (cont'd)
TaskStream
TaskStream is project-based professional development that pairs mentors with teachers from the same district. TaskStream has trainers conduct an on-site, two-day, train-the-mentors session for up to 20 teachers. Mentors then introduce the TaskStream system to novice technology-using teachers (referred to here as student-teachers), providing help and assistance where needed, monitoring participants' work, and keeping an online communication channel open at all times via their choice of comprehensive communication tools such as e-mail, instant messaging, or discussion boards.
Similar to the Gen www.Y approach, mentors and their student-teachers work together to develop a technology-enhanced activity that the student-teacher can then use with his or her students. With an eight-step process that begins with project creation and culminates with peer and self-assessment, TaskStream offers in-person and online support every step of the way.
Course Title:
Staff Development
Participating teachers begin the TaskStream program with a series of clearly outlined steps and online templates to create a technology-infused activity. They begin by choosing a topic or theme from their existing curriculum, objectives, and resources traditionally used to teach that concept. A self-paced tutorial then introduces new software and tools that could be used to teach the same lesson. The work for the student-teacher is in relating the new classroom activity to the chosen topic or theme using suggested tools and software. For example, the tutorial "Searching and Bookmarking with Internet Explorer" was a solid 12-page introduction to the topic, and included tips on Boolean searches and organizing bookmarks into folders. I completed the tutorial and its written assignment (searching for resources related to my curricular theme and bookmarking them), uploaded it to TaskStream, and went on to create a performance-based activity using the software suggested in the tutorial and aiming toward the curricular goals I determined at the beginning of the project.
And that is how TaskStream works-each step builds from the previous in a highly structured, progressive manner. New teaching activities can then be implemented in the classroom, peer reviewed, and published to TaskStream's Cybrary, a unique database of hundreds of lessons written by TaskStream subscribers using the TaskStream method. As part of the process, TaskStream provides a "Lesson Builder" to develop lessons, a rubric wizard to help create student assessment rubrics, and a database of standards to connect to curricula and assessment.
Teachers hoping to learn PowerPoint in all its detail won't find that here. Rather, TaskStream provides an environment for teachers to increase their technology skills with very practical goals in mind, namely lessons and activities that they (and others) can use to effectively integrate technology into the curriculum.
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