Time Requirement:  6 weeks / approximately 30 clock hours

Learning Environment:  Online Facilitated Course – delivered via Blackboard

Audience: This session is intended for educators who are interested in training others to locate and integrate Thinkfinity resources, but who have little or no experience with the Thinkfinity resources themselves.  Due to the fast-paced nature of this session, educators are encouraged to have a high comfort level with using the Internet.  Specific audiences may include technology integration specialists, staff developers, teacher leaders, and pre-service faculty and students. 

Pre-requisites: none

Session Description: This comprehensive online training session guides educators, who have little to no prior experience with Thinkfinity through acquiring the knowledge and skills needed to become a Thinkfinity Field Trainer. This includes the following components: Thinkfinity’s content and resources, navigation and searching strategies, integration to enhance student learning, and tools and resources available for Thinkfinity trainers, best practice training strategies, and development of a customized training plan.

Objectives: After completing this hands-on session educators will be able to:

• Train end users to:

o    Provide an overview of the Thinkfinity program, including professional development and rollout, to education colleagues

o    Locate free educational resources including interactive student tools, high quality lessons, and panel-reviewed Web sites

o    Differentiate between types of online resources available through Thinkfinity and recognize their flexibility for use to support student learning, regardless of individual technical skills and technology availability

o    Think critically about strategies for using various Thinkfinity resources to increase student learning

o    Create a customized integration plan to engage learners and maximize student achievement, using Thinkfinity’s Integration Framework

• Differentiate between different types of Thinkfinity training for end users, and customize training sessions for various audiences
• Navigate to a variety of training resources through the Trainer Toolbox
• Complete the four-step process necessary for all Thinkfinity training sessions, using Thinkfinity’s powerful professional development management system
• Critically think about a variety of resources available for customizing training sessions for end users
• Effectively apply a variety of exemplary training strategies
• Create and implement a customized “Thinkfinity Training Plans” developed during the session

Required Materials: Thinkfinity will provide all materials for this training session.