Professional Development for Instructional Technology

1. Planning into PracticeResources for Planning, Implementing and Integrating Instructional Technology Professional Development for Instructional Technology

2. Introductions • Regional Technology in Education Consortium serving the SE states, PR, and the US Virgin Islands • Jeff Sun, consultant service provider for SEIR*TEC and author of Planning into Practice • jsun@sun-associates.com

3. Objectives • To understand what constitutes an effective technology plan • To examine the specific case of technology professional development • To consider various professional development strategies in light of levels of teacher awareness

4. Focus on Curriculum • Technology is of little value if not linked with your curriculum and curriculum goals. • Curriculum, not the technology itself, must drive your planning process

5. Skeletal Plan Format

6. Overview of Technology Plan Elements • Executive Summary • Vision • Current Status • Goals and Objectives • Curriculum Integration • Professional Development • Administration • Infrastructure • Other? • Infrastructure Design • Staffing • Action Plan (follows goals and objectives) • Budget • Evaluation Plan

7. Establishing Vision • Vision establishes the purpose of the plan, and more importantly, the purpose behind bringing technology into your schools. • Guides the planning process • Firmly establishes the value you place upon technology

8. Creating Goals • Goals are statements of particular ways in which you intend to actualize your vision. • Goals break down the vision into manageable (and measurable) pieces. • Most plans have groups of goals around various elements of the vision...

9. Types of Goals • Curriculum Integration • Professional Development • Administration • Community Involvement and other areas that are critically important to your vision

10. Professional Development • Let’s talk about technology professional development as a specific area in your strategic technology plan. • How do you decide what professional development to offer? • Particularly now that your plan is in operation?

11. A Framework for Review

12. Types of PD Strategies • Immersion • Curriculum • Examining Practice • Collaborative Work • Vehicles and Mechanisms (page 4-24 of Planning into Practice)

13. The basic idea is that different strategies are appropriate for addressing and developing different levels of teacher awareness • A = Developing Awareness • B= Building Knowledge • T = Translating into Practice • P = Practicing Teaching • R = Reflection • Because integrating technology is all about teaching and learning!

14. The New Yorker, 2/22 and 3/1/99

15. For Example... • Workshops, Institutes, Courses, etc. • B -- Building Knowledge (primary) • A -- Developing Awareness (secondary) • T -- Translating into Practice (secondary) • Curriculum Development and Adaptation • T -- Translating into Practice (primary) • B -- Building Knowledge (secondary) • Also see the ACOT research on stages of teacher awareness visa vis technology

16. Assess Your Needs • In your strategic technology plan, you needed to assess needs and create the mechanisms for on-going assessment and review. • Use this knowledge to inform your choice of appropriate professional development strategies.

17. What’s Your Current Strategy? • Workshops! • But what about those people who aren’t reached by workshops? • How do you know whether workshops are a sound strategy given your needs?

18. Maximizing Workshops • Schedule dedicated staff development days and time • Pay stipends for anything that goes beyond scheduled days • Create your schedule way in advance • Use a combination of outside and in-house trainers • Use new faces to build upon known expertise • Assign follow-up tasks

19. So, What Else Might Work? • Walk the Talk! • Workshops are like teacher-centered classrooms • Can you adopt a collaborative an constructivist approach to technology staff development?

20. Learning Teams • Teachers team in collaborative groups with a common goal to develop technology integration skills • Fits “Study Groups” and “Coaching and Mentoring” strategies • Primary P and R strategies • Kansas and Beyond • http://lps.lexingtonma.org/Tech/Kansas

21. Advantages... • Spreads the technical support burden • Professional development becomes authentic • Develops a learning community useful well beyond technology skills development • Disadvantages... • Huge time commitment • Homogenous vs. heterogeneous groups

22. Other Benefits... • Study groups, Learning Teams, provide time to develop deep understanding of both technology and curriculum (reflection) • Ultimately encourages creation of cross-disciplinary and integrated curriculum units (practice teaching) • Although don’t be surprised if in the beginning, you spend less time on these higher order purposes and more time “mousing around.”

23. Pilot Projects • Groups or individuals are chosen to develop technology-enriched projects • Fit into the Curriculum strategies on our chart • Primary P and T strategies • The Crucible Project • http://www.shawsheen.tec.ma.us:90/crucible/index-2.html

24. Rewards for participation • They get the technology first • They receive dedicated professional development • “Costs” of participation -- accountability • They have to produce! • You require that they become trainers

25. Remember... • Professional development activities should always produce concrete products! • Sample/Outlined lessons • Templates • Examples of actual student or teacher work • Distribute the products • Produce a guidebook or facilitators guide • Publish materials on the web

26. Think about your range of strategies • Maximize your strategies...one approach doesn’t fit all needs • Workshops work best as “B” (building knowledge) strategies • Learning teams -- Practicing and Reflecting • Pilot projects -- Translating and Practicing

27. Create rewards and responsibilities • Accountability is the key! • All staff development needs to... • Have anticipated follow up • Produce tangible products

28. So Let’s Try One • Using the Professional Development Idea worksheets, and perhaps some of the ideas on pages 4-14 through 16, fully map out a PD idea for your school/district • Think about... • What awareness level you are addressing • How you will know that your strategy has had impact

29. Evaluation • A good technology plan provides a logical framework for the evaluation of your technology implementation. • Goals show you what you are looking for • Progress towards fulfillment of goals and objectives can be measured • Activities can be recorded

30. Summary • A strong educational technology plan is rooted in a strong vision for technology’s role in education • This role needs to be centered around the anticipated and desired student impacts • Training must be adapted to the various needs of your staff at different stages in their technology “development.” • One size will not fit all! • Understand the stages, and then pick the appropriate strategy

31. Eventually, evaluation will become the emphasis of your district’s technology efforts. • Take the time to write a strong evaluation component for your plan • Evaluate -- review and reflect -- on a regular basis so that you can formatively assess your progress and fine tune your strategy

32. For More Information • On-line resources (including this presentation) • www.sun-associates.com/resources/stuff.html • Email or Call • jsun@sun-associates.com • 978.449.0200