The school I am employed at has a staff meeting each Tuesday and offers professional development opportunities on in-service days designated by the district each year. Currently, our staff most frequently utilizes interactive whiteboards and LED projectors in instruction. This equipment is available in each classroom and is utilized daily, and teachers demonstrate familiarity and confidence using these tools. Skills related to other hardware, software, and online resources vary greatly. Some of the staff has taken initiative to develop presentations incorporating technology for others to view at meetings and special events, but the rest of the staff seem to keep their knowledge to themselves or lack confidence regarding advanced skills.
Although this is my first year at Belmont Hills Elementary, it appears that in the 2009-2010 school year that professional development regarding technology skills was not an area receiving the highest priority. However, I do believe my school places importance on professional development. As we serve an over 36% limited English proficient student population, developing ESL certified staff was a goal that understandably received greater attention. When professional development regarding technology skills has been offered, it has occurred during the school’s weekly Tuesday meeting, during an in-service day provided by the district, or through a course/workshop offering provided outside of our local school by the district. Typically these trainings introduce staff to a new skill or resources that will benefit instruction. In my experiences with trainings such as these, there is rarely time provided for follow-up or sharing of skills. Typically, when the day of training is over, there is little evaluating or assessing the skills of those who have attended.
Although I would not suggest testing teachers on what they have learned, I do think a follow-up meeting or forum to share experiences, tips, and frustrations after training would be beneficial. I would also suggest providing technology in-service opportunities in a way that allows a teacher to manage his own time. Everybody comes to a training at a different skill level regarding technology. In whole group situations, those who are more advanced often have their time wasted reviewing skills they have already mastered. Therefore, a self-paced tutorial type of training would be better. This will allow staff to work at a pace he is comfortable with and allow for maximum efficiency- possibly saving hours in a day for some participants. Self-guided/paced instruction can allow for the same amount of accountability and assistance as whole group training sessions offer. If a teacher chooses, he can do a self-paced in-service requirement in the comfort of his own home or in the evenings. This will free up hours at a time that are better used organizing materials or planning lessons in the classroom. Feedback and accountability can be provided by moderators who assess contributions to blogs or Wikis regarding the training. Participants could collaborate during the training via blogs or Wikis, and provide or post examples of his contributions and efforts when he finishes the training. Although this type of training experience might never fully replace whole group training sessions, I believe this is the direction districts need to head towards to develop tech skills among staff.
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Cole, I totally agree with your approach to technology training. After taking this class, it has taught me so much more about training. So many teachers come to inservice at different levels of mastery when it comes to technology. I think it would be such a time saver to have inservice technology training paced to fit the teacher receiving the training. Some teachers can skip several steps on the training, however, some can go back and review over and over the areas that they were having difficulty with. I also think it is a great idea to have a wiki or a blog to share ideas and ask questions. I think that we need to open up to our coworkers more about our abilities and inabilities when it comes to technology. I know there is a need for whole group instruction, however, when we can, we need to individualize the training as much as possible. I really think teachers would benefit from this type of training. I also agree with you that there needs to some type of accountability so that the teachers will use the technology that is available to them. I know that for myself, sometimes I get caught up in the day to day happenings, that I do not want to stop and learn one more thing. However, we are doing our students and our community a disservice by not utilizing the technology we have available to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteI think that your statement is so true of so many...
ReplyDelete"Some of the staff has taken initiative to develop presentations incorporating technology for others to view at meetings and special events, but the rest of the staff seem to keep their knowledge to themselves or lack confidence regarding advanced skills."
I find that very few take initative or it is the select few that do. I think that the role of the SLMS is to promote technology, understanding that they may not know all that is out there or how to use, but they should encourage active teacher participation in leading, perhaps a goal through the Media Program/Media Committee.
One thing that I was excited about last year was a round robin of technology, teachers would go to each in-service of there chose. The problem was that there was no follow up and the next semester the same was offered. I think that have a Podcast I and II/Advanced would be helpful...then people would feel more comfortable in their own element. Also, instruction need to teach, let teachers practice and then follow up. I think that so many times it is lost on the way out the door.
It would be nice to see relevant training and then hold teachers to some accountability in how they will use. For example, 9th grade focus on podcasting for students, 10th grade introduce blogging, 11th grade introduce digital storytelling, etc or do it by subject are. The idea of consistency and an actual plan are important to achieve the goal.
Cole,
ReplyDeleteYour comments reflect why I loved what I learned in my last tech class on teacher in-services. I recently suggested to my media specialist, who was attempting to offer technology in-services for the teachers, to try something like what we were developing in class (and what you are suggesting). Everyone on the media committee looked at me like I was crazy. The way we are learning to write tech tips in this class and teacher in-services in the other class would benefit me today as a teacher, and later as a media specialist. As a teacher, I am often frustrated with whole group technology training because after I have completed the steps I find myself sitting and waiting for the one instructor to walk around to the 10 people to answer questions, repeat directions, etc. By the end of the session, I have usually read the AJC online, answered all my emails, done some window shopping on Amazon, read some book reviews, etc. There is so much to learn, I just hate wasting time. In most of these training sessions, we have been required to create a lesson using the technology. While it is said that is a requirement, I find that most teachers dismiss the final assignment and simply don’t do it. I can’t help but wonder if they would allow their own students to get away with that! After creating in-services that one can complete at his own pace, I am a full supporter of this type of training (allowing for time set aside to help those who need it). But for some, this idea is surprisingly still too novel.
Cole I completely agree that at my school as well, technology is often put on the back burner. with initiatives in reading and math, the focus of professional learning at our school is geared towards these areas and there is absolutely no focus on technology. I don't understand why we can't have professional learning sessions that tie it all together. I like the idea of self-paced tutorials, because we are all at such different levels of mastery. Sessions could be scheduled so that teachers could rotate through, have someone model the technique, and then be given a tutorial to follow on their own. I for one,like having a tutorial to follow step-by-step, and let's face it, there isn't always time for that.
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