All the JumpStart learning plus the support of a community.
By guiding you through a series of hands-on projects, JumpStart Basic gives you the confidence and skills you need to make smart choices about the tech you use in your teaching.
JumpStart Plus is the exact same course, but it adds the support and accountability of a community: A cohort of students to work with, a schedule of deadlines to keep you on track, and a team of mentors to answer your questions along the way.
Let's start by looking at the course.
A Process-Based Approach
Tools come and go, and features constantly change. So instead of starting by looking for the right tool, it’s more effective to start with processes, specific ways of using technology that can be applied in a variety of classroom situations. Once you understand a process and how it can boost learning, you can explore the tools that put that process into action.
In this course, you will learn 10 key processes that can have an incredible impact on how you teach, how your students learn, how you collaborate and communicate with others, and the time it takes to do it all.
How the Course Works
You’ll start each module with a short reading assignment. This is where we explore the process, consider its instructional value, and look at how it can enhance learning in multiple ways.
Next, you’ll review your project checklist to understand the requirements of your hands-on project. For most projects, an advanced option has been added to offer extra challenge to those who master the process easily.
Then it’s time to dig into your hands-on project. You’ll watch a series of step-by-step video tutorials to learn how to do it.
When your project is complete, you’ll share it in a blog post. A sample blog, with all 10 modules complete, is provided to help you get a clear picture of what your final project should look like.
The JumpStart Community
With JumpStart Plus, you will work through the course alongside a cohort of other students. This will take place in our JumpStart community, a private online forum where you can ask questions, share ideas, and get support.
A course calendar will set deadlines for each module, so you stay on track and are more likely to finish the course. As you complete the modules, you'll have the opportunity to share finished projects with other members of your cohort. Seeing what educators in other content areas and grade levels are doing with the tools really helps expand your expertise with each process you learn.
The community forum provides a place for you to ask questions, find answers, and share the work you're doing. You and your cohort will have your own discussion board, and you'll have access to module-specific boards as well, so you can find the help you need quickly.
A team of JumpStart mentors will have an active presence in the community to make sure your questions get answered. These are fellow educators who have already completed the course and are excited to help you succeed.
There are no required meetings or additional tasks associated with JumpStart Plus: It simply adds a level of accountability and support to help you get the most out of the course.
How Cohorts Work
When you enroll in this course, you will be placed into a cohort. During your cohort's 6-week session, you will work through the modules on a schedule and will share your own discussion group within the JumpStart community.
The course will only be open during the enrollment periods listed below. Between the enrollment periods, the course will be closed to new students.
2019 Cohorts
January Cohort
January 2 - February 13
Enrollment open December 14-30
March Cohort
March 1 - April 12
Enrollment open February 17-27
June Cohort
June 1 - July 15
Enrollment open May 19-30
July Cohort
July 8 - August 19
Enrollment open June 23-July 3
October Cohort
October 1 - November 12
Enrollment open September 22-29
I haven't stopped talking about this course since I began! I'm so proud of my new website and so pleased with what I have accomplished that my family keeps teasing me for bragging about all the new skills I have learned.
Nancy Dunlap
High School English Teacher
Lake Elsinore, CA
I just wanted to say THANK YOU so much again for letting me take this course! I have learned a ton of new information from you all and can't wait to continue to use it in my classroom. I've developed more patience with working with technology before implementing it for sure. I really enjoyed this process!
Daniel Hoilett
4th Grade Teacher
Taylors, SC
I feel more confident implementing technology after taking this course. I was pretty savvy in some apps and programs, but this course gave me different skills that I wanted to obtain but never sought out on my own.
Emily Bourque
Business and Journalism Teacher
Lafayette, LA
The first thing that I took away from this course is that I’m capable. I was able to do this. The door to tech capability is not closed to me. I can now work effectively with 6 tabs open without a mental breakdown! There’s much that I’m capable of doing with my students because of this course. I can do these things in a competent, timely and thoughtful manner. I am truly grateful.
Weslica Johnson
ESOL Teacher
Greenville, SC
I have always been intrigued by the novelty for students; however, I didn't want them lost in the tools disregarding the content or intent. This course keeps the perspective that we first focus on what we want students to do and then think about the most effective engaging way to do that without losing sight of original intent.
Tiffany Trevenen
4th Grade Teacher
Craig, CO
One of my key takeaways from this course is how much we can involve technology in the classroom and how little of it we're actually doing now. The ten modules from this class helped me venture many different technology resources that bust my preconceived notion about the difficulty of involving technology in the math classroom.
Colby Tharpe
High School Math Teacher
Greenville, SC
When we found JumpStart, we were looking for a way for teachers to earn their technology proficiency requirement not simply by completing a checklist or listening to a one-size-fits-all lecture on technology integration but for an opportunity that teachers would find engaging and relevant in every content area at every grade level. In short, we wanted something that really had the potential to change classrooms and equip teachers to use technology and to use it well. We began our first JumpStart pilot with 40 teachers, administrators, and specialists who volunteered to join us in the fall of 2017 and their feedback was tremendous. Our volunteers found the online, self-paced format perfect for their busy lifestyles because they could learn while in their pajamas, after school, or early in the mornings before kids arrived at the classroom door – whenever they felt most prepared and able to commit to the weekly activities. More than just convenience though, we’ve also seen our teachers embrace the tools and the pedagogy behind the tools in daily classroom instruction in ways that we did not imagine. Jump Start is not a technology course – it is a course in solid, effective teaching practices that also happens to incorporate technology. For us, that is the distinction that makes us most grateful for our participation in this project. Six months later, we have now opened the course up for an additional 80 educators to participate and we couldn’t be more excited about the possibilities this course has given to impact 120 classrooms and thousands of students.
Michelle King
Instructional Technology Facilitator
Greenville County Schools
Greenville, SC
See what more past JumpStart educators say here.
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After spending over 11 years in the classroom, both at the K-12 level and the college level, I created my website, Cult of Pedagogy, to be a place where teachers could fully geek out on teaching. Since 2013, I've been researching and sharing effective teaching practices, exploring the social and emotional stuff that impacts our work, sampling the tech tools that help us along the way, and looking inside real classrooms to learn from teachers who are thinking outside the box.
Now I've created the Cult of Pedagogy Classroom as a place where teachers can focus on improving specific skills in a self-paced environment.
For Administrators
If you are an administrator interested in learning more about this course, or you are a teacher who would like to have your administrator consider purchasing this course for staff members, download our course overview.
Purchase Orders
We accept purchase orders from U.S. customers for any order of $25 and over; for international customers, the minimum amount for a purchase order is $99. To generate a quote for a purchase order when the course opens for enrollment, please fill out this form and someone from our team will contact you with an invoice.
Other Questions
If you have another question that hasn't been answered here, please get in touch with our contact form.