Educational Continuum Organization (ECO) offers many opportunities for online professional development and support of STEAM including Astronomy learning in the classroom and after school programs. The instructional support uses Moodle as Learning Management System (LMS) for writing tutorials and online learning centers for students and teachers. ECO also includes Salsa J and Stellarium for teacher and student practice and zoom.us and Skype for face-to-face video conferencing and chat. All tools work on smartphones and tablets as well as computers.
An ECO learning session is integrated into teacher workshops so participants will become familiar with the ECO Moodle environment including building their own areas for sharing with other teachers and activities for students; reaching Salsa J, Stellarium, Skype; and other online interactive astronomy tools.
A series of monthly classroom-based online learning activities are provided for teachers with or without their students. These are based on their face-to-face educational program and integrated with their ongoing professional development during the school year. The activities reinforce learning, and give teachers an opportunity to practice new teaching and learning skills in their classrooms and share the results with their peers. The online environment provides a bridge between professional development and classroom practice.
