State of the Union: Technology Training in My ES and Beyond

Technology skills of my faculty vary from person to person, according to their previous experience with the technology and whether or not they have access to different kinds of technology (for instance, one teacher only has a tape player which she uses to play Mozart on; if she had speakers on her PC, she could play a CD on there; also, some teachers have ActivBoards in their classrooms and projectors, while other teachers just have an overhead projector and no promise of a whiteboard in sight).

There used to be ways that we could do tech training; with our former technology person for county, she would email out tech training opportunities that could be done over the Internet, either independently for free (websites that provided training modules) or through RESA. Currently, we have no methods of getting technology training from either the school library media specialist or the technology department of the county office. The primary reason that the media specialist does not offer technology training is because she is drowning in troubleshooting the technology that we do have. The online process to get help from the technology specialists is so involved and takes such a long time for response (although our county has been trying to address concerns of timeliness in regard to similar requests) that the media specialist often finds it is easier to just try to help them herself (her errant grad student might lend a hand, on occasion).

How would I provide tech staff development? Wellllll…..I would start, as I did in last semester’s class, and as Jurkowski (2006) details on page 188, with giving a needs analysis (and “wants” analysis) of the staff members through a simple survey like on www.surveymonkey.com (thanks, Cole!). After reviewing the information, especially any comments made by teachers (I find that the comments that are made separately from answering the questions on 5 point scales and the like are the most telling responses), I would begin to map out a plan for tech staff development.

The order of trainings might have to do with current resources and the ability to borrow resources as well. For instance, if teachers responded that they would be interested in learning more about podcasting, wikis, and using their active whiteboards, I would start by making a quick inventory of all the equipment that would be necessary to actually teach the lesson or lessons (making sure that I could borrow a whiteboard, for instance, or hold the training in someone’s classroom, if my media center did not have a whiteboard), putting things in motion to borrow something from a RESA or GLTC that might be useful, if needed. Then, I would start developing the materials with which to hold the prof learning (a wiki, blog, or other online environment; a few key handouts or brochures so the teachers could have something tangible to carry with them, etc.), checking to see whether or not the teachers could earn a PLU from their contact hours (in person and/or online) with me, as that might be a big draw.

With materials in hand, I would then create my adult lesson plan for teaching this material, being sure all my course materials were relevant and as interesting as possible and that course completion would indicate the ability to act on the new knowledge. Then, I would publicize the training event(s), visiting the planning periods of as many grades/departments as I could, to encourage teachers to attend. I agree with the Jurkowski text that gives additional information as to implementation and follow-up (especially the evaluative aspect—if teachers thought it stunk up the place, I want to know so I can change and do better next time).

As for “Do’s and Don’ts” of Technology Training:

• DO:
o ask for teacher opinion of training;
o get your principal involved (even if it is just to approve your course);
o plan fun activities and inject humor in the training whenever possible;
o keep records of all trainings, formal and informal (Jurkowski 2006);
o Customize your trainings to be of interest to both beginners and more advanced technology whizzes—if this means you will need to enlist help from other teachers/staff, do it!

• DON’T:
o make like a tree and leave after the in-service—make yourself available to teachers indefinitely for questions, follow-ups, and ideas for new trainings;
o do a session all in one or two days—break it up so the teachers have multiple opportunities to perform the tasks, ask questions, and stay interested;
o disregard teacher comments, either in person or on surveys—they may drive future professional learning opportunities.

Let’s be honest. Some of us are better at technologically-related tasks than others. Also, some of us are quite gifted when it comes to teaching youngsters, but put a room full of adults in front of us and we freeze. In order to fulfill even the most basic idea of Principle 8 in Information Power, which discusses the need for professional development among most stakeholders (including the media specialist him/herself), we must be willing to at least dip our toes into the pool of technology training, which might at first be the creation of instruction and tip sheets that will remain with items like projectors, digital cameras and docking stations, and digital video cameras [Jurkowski (2006) really has it going on with this topic]. Nobody is saying that we have to start out with a grand series of professional learning courses that will result in 3 PLUs for all involved teachers. There are many different levels of involvement and participation, but the point (I think) of this blog is to realize that we have a long way to go, baby. And, that is true no matter whether you currently provide some training to teachers in your media center or whether you are a humble grad student with an eye toward graduation and that SLMS who is retiring in a year.

So…where are you coming from? And, where are you going to go?