Professional Development on the Cheap and on the Web

In looking for the best practices in Educational Technology I've come across two websites that have been excellent in developing my knowledge and understanding of technology integration. These two tools are Google for Education Training and EdWeb.net.  These are fantastic resources to better your teaching practice as well as strengthen your resume.

Our school has been in the process of "Going Google" for a little while now and the expectations for us to be working more and more using Google Apps along with our other software are rising.  Google has created an easy to follow curriculum that covers each of the main areas that teachers can use Google Apps to enhance learning within their classroom.  Each of the lessons are between 5 and 15 minutes to complete and many include step by step videos to help you master each skill.  

 From every lesson I have gained at least 1 thing that has made using Google Apps more accessible and effective.
After completing the lessons, for a small fee of about 100$USD you can take an exam to become a Google Certified Teacher, which would would be highly desirable to many schools.

I'm not really sure how I came across EdWeb, but I must have subscribed to their postings at some point as they send me once a week the schedule for their webinars.  When I see a topic that I am interested in I reserve a spot for the scheduled time and EdWeb sends me reminders of when to log on and join the live webinar.  In the live webinar you have the ability to post comments and questions to the presenter as well as all of the other participants are online.  If you happen to miss the live session you can watch the recorded video at your own convenience.  Each session is around 1 hour in length and totally free.  After each webinar you receive a certificate of completion.

Along with the webinars EdWeb is a social network bringing a community of educators together to share their experiences.  

Stay Calm and Just Keep Learning