Eduro Learning – Bradical Insights

In this post I will explain the benefits of Eduro Learning as an online continuing education option for educators.

I’m a little mad at myself. I haven’t been taking my own advice to heart. In my “Your Own Bucket” post, I quoted Chrissy Hellyer and her idea that a blog is not something that is necessarily written for the audience. It is “To document my ongoing learning and professional development journey.” However, I’ve come to learn that it has an even greater purpose than that. I need to write! On the days that I have not published anything, I feel a sense of loss, like I have somehow let myself down, and now I know why. It’s because, for the time being(hello Covid!), this is my creative outlet, and as I’ve learned in my Connected Classrooms Course from Eduro Learning:

(I’m opening myself up to failure today in the hopes that it keeps the creativity flowing, and that it allows me to do some growing. If this is not your cup of tea, turn the channel!)

Why Eduro?

Let’s start with Coetail. A number of years ago I enrolled in the Coetail Program(The Certificate of Educational Technology and Information Literacy). For anyone looking to enhance their ability to access technology in a way that allows you to embed it seamlessly into your curriculum, then there is probably no better place you could go than to Coetail. You are placed in a cohort of like minded individuals, you can work at your own pace, and the instruction is top notch. Even the assigned work pushes you to explore the very resources you’ll use in your classroom. To top it off you can earn college credit.

In my mind, Eduro is sort of a natural extension of that very program. To be honest, I don’t know which came first, or the exact relationship between the two, all I know is that when I found myself locked in my own home during Covid, wanting to do something to improve as a teacher, I went right back to what I know worked, Coetail(and by extension Eduro).

So far I have taken two courses through Eduro. They have followed a similar format. Each course is broken down into bite sized lessons. A lesson is then broken down further into four distinct sections. Here is a page from one course to give you an idea.

The “Watch” section is typically a short 15-25 minute video. Often it follows an interview format where one of the instructors interviews a teacher implementing whatever the topic being covered is. The videos are extremely relevant, and are a great hook.
The “Introduction” section is just that, and often reiterates a bit of what was previously viewed.
The absolute score in Eduro is the “Key Resources” section. In addition to articles supporting the thinking in each lesson, often there are links to things likeTed talks, or teacher blogs, or slide shows, or other resources that add to your understanding, and to your ability to implement the features of the lesson. For example, in the lesson above there are over 20 links to infographics, lesson plans, example units, and other useful online resources.
The “Action” in each lesson is typically a short assignment forcing(and I mean that in the nicest way) the student to use the new tool or idea. The misty photo above with Kim’s quote is an example of one of my actions. I used Canva to turn a photograph from one of my bike rides into a cool tweet.

Eduro has many offerings. If you are someone interested in becoming a coach, then the possibilities are almost endless. For a classroom or subject specific teacher who is content to stay where he or she is, then perhaps some of the other course offerings would be of more interest. The MastermindEd series has offerings focused on things like social justice, inclusion, sustainability, and service learning. There are courses on Women Who Lead, and you could even sign up for personal mentoring.

Eduro has been a great option for me. The self-paced format offers me the flexibility I love. In addition, the lessons are easy to navigate, they can be stopped and started at the users convenience. Also, because courses are taught by actual teachers the material, resources, and course work is all relevant and instantly accessible for your own teaching. Give Eduro a shot the next time you’re looking to up your game.

Image Credit:

“Digital Literacy in a Connected Classroom.” Eduro Learning, edurolearning.com/course/digital-literacy-connected-classroom/fake-news-the-responsibility-to-be-digitally-literate/.