Technology Training & Professional Development

The technology and professional development at my elementary school is at a low point. Many of the teachers are older and don’t like to use technology. Every classroom is equipped with an active smart board; we have two smart tables, several iPad class sets, and a computer lab… Yet we are still not a tech savvy school. I do believe that professional development has the ability to empower educators and help them succeed while using technology. My school is a Title 1 school, and many of these technology devices were purchased with Title 1 funds, but no professional development was offered in the usage of the materials, so they sit unused because of the lack of knowledge. Our media specialist holds the duty of overseeing the media center and all technology equipment solely. I see this as a blessing and a curse because it causes the media specialist to be pulled in several directions with no assistance, but it offers a way to gain a position on the school’s leadership team. Conducting professional development within the school offers the media specialist the opportunity to do what teachers do all day every day, which is teach, but form their lesson plan to fit Adult Education and the mind of a student who is also a teacher. This is a challenging task, but pushes the individual to become creative and think outside the box.

In the article ISTE Standards Coaches, several points are presented to assist a media specialist while he/she converts to a stellar technology coach.

http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-C_PDF.pdf

1. Visionary Leadership

a.       Work with the school/district leadership team for a comprehensive technology vision

b.      Participate in all levels of technology strategic plans

c.       Rally for support of your school/district technology plan

d.      Implement strategies for continued technology innovations

2. Teaching, Learning, and Assessments

1. Coach teachers on the use of new technology options and standards
2. Present technology that can assist with diverse student needs that have been research tested
3. Teach teachers to use technology for student advancement and productivity
4. Teach teachers to use technology to enhance student critical thinking skills
5. Teach teacher to tailor their technology curriculum to fit the needs of all students
6. Explain the importance of instructional design for student understanding
7. Explain the importance of content aligned assessments within technology usage
8. Teach and explain the importance of collecting and analyzing student data and results

3. Digital Age Learning Environments

a.       Teach effective classroom management to maximize collaboration

b.      Maintain the membership and upkeep of digital materials

c.       Teach teachers the benefits of online and blended learning models

d.      Work with the school/district to adopt new student learning technology

e.      Serve as a help desk liaison for software and hardware problems

f.        Include teachers and administration in evaluating technology materials

g.       Use several forms of digital communication to collaborate

4. Professional Development and Program Evaluation

a.       Conduct needs assessments to measure the impact on student learning

b.      Fully design, develop, and deliver technology based professional learning

c.       Survey teachers to evaluate the effectiveness and comprehension of professional learning activities

5. Digital Citizenship

a.       Promote digital tools that are accessible to all students and teachers

b.      Remember Fair Use and Copyright when designing and delivering instructions

c.       Promote diversity and global awareness to increase collaboration amongst all parties

6. Content Knowledge and Professional Growth

a.       Strengthen pedagogical knowledge in technology integration

b.      Continue technology training to improve your professional practice

c.       Regularly evaluate yourself and reflect on your goals

Being a technology coach is not an easy job, but has the benefits of being a rewarding opportunity. I personally believe it embodies the aspects of a teacher, business professional, salesman, and public speaker all rolled into one. Things that I believe a media specialist can do to begin the journey of a technology coach could be:

• Work with your school administration to record faculty meetings and professional development classes.
• Integrate presentations into formats such as Prezi for meetings.
• Create a school webpage/wiki that is accessible by password for only school employees.
• This website can embody teacher profiles with their technology specialties
• The recorded meetings and professional development classes can be stored and viewed here.
• Announcements for teachers only can be displayed on the home page (Treats in the Lounge or Paperwork is due to the Front Office by 3pm)
• Different committee can place all meeting times and locations on one calendar to minimize double booking of staff
• Forums about specific parents/students/school issues
• The Horizon Report list several tools to expand a teacher classroom with technology
• http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2014-horizon-k12-preview.pdf
• Present on 1-2 technology tools from the Horizon Report per staff meeting/week/bi-weekly
• Meet with grades/departments and present on which technology tools could benefit their students.

Professional Development and Educational Technology

As a classroom teacher I always dreaded professional development days.  It wasn't that I was opposed to learning something new.  Quite the contrary.  I love learning new things, especially if those things make my job easier or my teaching practices more effective.  No, what I dreaded was that most professional development days were spent learning something I learned as an undergrad or something that was useless to me as a 7th and 8th grade reading/ELA teacher.  The worst, though, was being introduced to a potentially awesome piece of educational technology, but rushed through the training, then expected to immediately implement said technology without truly understanding how it works and what all it can do.

Now that I am in my second year as a media specialist I see professional development from a different perspective.  In this job I am charged with conducting quite a bit of professional development on educational technology and I try to remember to put myself in the place of those classroom teachers when I make my plans.  Thankfully, I have the luxury of providing snippets of ed tech PD during faculty meetings and then the extent to which I continue training on various resources is entirely dependent on teacher interest.  Each time we have a faculty meeting I demo a new resource (usually web 2.0 stuff, but sometimes equipment) and then they can sign up by team or department or grade level for further training based on interest for further training.  This has proven to be pretty popular amongst my teachers and they say they appreciate being able to pick and choose what they want to learn.  I, myself, sometimes feel overwhelmed with the constant influx of new ed tech resources, so I can see how teachers who aren't as comfortable or tech saavy could easily want to throw in the towel because they just don't know how to proceed.

Something else we do for technology training at my school is that the instructional facilitator and I put together sample lessons to demo to teachers during their bi-weekly group planning periods.  Based on what teachers see in those sessions teachers can then request that the IF and I plan with them as a subject area or individually to incorporate technology into their lessons.  We do also offer on-demand refresher courses and equipment training for new teachers.

It's important that teachers feel supported in implementing ed tech into their lessons, and therefore must have access to relevant, effective training.  The biggest complaint I hear is that teachers don't know how to incorporate the tech into their existing lessons.  I saw the pyramid below at our district technology office and use it in helping teachers figure out how and what to use.  By breaking down the various resources by levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, they're better able to decide what tech resources are best for the various types of lessons and assessments they deliver.