Distance learning has been rolled out throughout the country. Schools are asking teachers to use more technology than ever. The response from teachers has been mixed, to say the least. If learning the new technology has you stressed and overwhelmed, this post may not be for you. I suggest you snuggle up with a good glass of merlot, check out my tips for teachers working from home, and forget about this post.
But if learning all of this new technology has you excited for your future, keep reading. I recently had a member of The Teacher Career Coach Course reach out ecstatic that the past few weeks have allowed her to add Camtasia video editing skills to her transition resume.
So are you ready to add to your resume that you are an accomplished communicator who can drive, influence and impress effectively with all levels using multiple methods? Let’s go!
Disclosure: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning I receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase through these links. This is at no additional cost to you.
Office 365
How it can benefit distance learning:
During distance learning, familiarize yourself with Excel spreadsheets by using it as a digital grade book. Share a Word Online document with a colleague to create lesson plans, create an entire online binder using OneNote, or start digital communication via Microsoft Teams.
How it benefits corporate positions:
Office 365 is a classic and used by many Fortune 500 companies. Microsoft Teams is very similar to Slack, another commonly using collaboration tool amongst large companies. Many positions require that you are familiar with Office 365 and similiar digital collaboration tools.
How you can get started:
If your school has a subscription, now is the time to dig around with some of the classics by signing in and using the app launcher (9 squares in the top left corner) to find all of the features mentioned above. Even if your school doesn’t have a subscription, Microsoft is generous enough to offer free Office 365 accounts for education if you sign up here.
Camtasia
How it can benefit distance learning:
If you’ve been struggling to walk your students through distance learning and how-to videos, Camtasia may be the solution you were looking for. The videos will take longer to produce than a quick screen capture. But you will end up with videos you can edit together, zoom in and highlight areas on the screen for emphasis, and more. I often record a mixture of scripted audio, PowerPoints, and point and click walk-throughs to ensure my audience has retained all of the key takeaways in the shortest amount of time possible.
How it benefits corporate positions:
Are you looking to claim you are proficient in different strategies to engage learners through presentation, facilitation, as well as the use of online and offline training concepts? This is good for anyone looking for instructional design jobs, training positions, or creating their own courses or digital how-to videos. It’s personally what I use for both my full-time position and my digital course creation.
How you can get started:
They have a TON of how-to videos to help you learn the basics but there is a short window to learn. Check out Camtasia’s free trial here. Make sure you learn the tool during the free trial so you can put it on a resume (and have one or two polished videos to add to a digital portfolio!) If you love this tool for distance learning, it might be a good fit to ask your admin or IT to purchase for the school. Make sure to read the section below for more details.
Asana
How it can benefit distance learning:
Asana is a project management tool that helps teams keep track of tasks and work remotely, perfect for the grade level team that is multi-tasking distance learning and other responsibilities. You can assign who on a team is responsible for what and track their progress without any unnecessary check-ins.
How it benefits corporate positions:
This is a great tool to showcase your ability to collaborate and drive projects with distributed teams (ie – not all in one location). Anytime you can put an emphasis on your knowledge and ease working in collaboration tools (ex: Teams, Slack, Asana) is a plus!) You’ll also be able to boast your ability to work highly independently with limited guidance on the day-to-day running of projects.
How you can get started:
Asana is free for personal or small group use. I use the free version on my own but have also had freelancers join for longer projects I needed to collaborate with them on. You won’t ever need to upgrade to a paid account if you keep your teammates limited on your projects.
Adobe Creative Cloud
How it can benefit distance learning:
This is for the teacher who goes above and beyond (and is looking to amp up their graphic design skills). Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign are your go-to tools to create stylish E-books, polished presentations, and your own website graphics.
How it benefits corporate positions:
These are some of the tools required for many instructional designer positions. If you take the time to learn these tools and create some materials make sure to keep them for a digital portfolio!
How you can get started:
You can get started for free for personal use with their free trial using the link below. If your school or district is interested in purchasing you can use the link below for a discount.
Thinkific
How it can benefit distance learning:
If your school or district is interested in starting more flipped classroom models, they might be shopping around for an LMS. Thinkific is not an average LMS – it’s mostly used for businesses and entrepreneurs. I did not want to leave this option out as many of you have been wanting to dabble in course creation or online teaching for side-hustles, but this may not be a good fit for many schools who already have their own preferred platforms.
How it benefits corporate positions:
Instructional designer and corporate trainer candidates have to be able to show their comfortability with creating video training and E-learning modules. Camtasia + Thinkific = my top choices. Having experience working in one of the top LMS’s will be a serious addition to your resume. And having created a course that you can add to resume is even better.
How you can get started:
Thinkific is my course hosting platform of choice, and they offer an amazing free trial and low monthly fees once you’re ready to launch. If you want ideas to get started with your own course, email me at support@teachercareercoach.com and let’s chat it out.
How to pitch your school or district pays for these programs:
Did you find a tool during a free trial on this list that was really useful to your classroom that you’d like to ask your district to pay for?
In the case you are secretly searching for jobs you won’t want to send them this specific page to read about the program. But I’m here to help! If your school or district has additional funding and you believe that these tools would be a good fit, email me at support@teachercareercoach.com. I’ll send you over a safe blurb for you to copy and paste to email to your school site!
About Teacher Career Coach
I hope this post has helped you understand my mission. My goal is to help bring clarity to any teachers who are suffering from the pain I experienced during my own career transition of leaving teaching.
If you are beginning to weigh your options, my free newsletter above is a great place to get started. I?ll send you resources about career transitions, strategies to help prevent burnout, and ways to make extra $$ while you?re still in the classroom.
If you have been waiting for a step-by-step guide to help you leave the classroom, sign up for The Teacher Career Coach Course. I?ve spent countless hours building this resource with the consultation of an HR professional with 10+ years in experience and over 1,000 teachers’ most commonly asked questions.
