Now What?
One of the most important roles of the technology coordinator is "to serve as the technology leader for the school or district" (Frazier & Hearrington, 2017, 166). Planning and budgeting for technology wants and needs is a big part of that. Before any new technology is purchased, the technology coordinator must carefully consider how it will be used to directly impact student learning.
The technology coordinator must
- have and share a district technology vision
- create an attainable plan for the vision to come to fruition
- find resources to support the vision
We cannot simply purchase new technology and put it in the hands of students and teachers and expect miracles to happen. How many times have we been given a new device or program to use and thought..."What am I supposed to do with this?"
The solution to this problem is professional development. I'm not talking about the one-and-done PD we've all had before. I am talking about strategic, ongoing professional development. "Professional development on how to use/implement the innovation is important, but so is professional development on how to teach with the innovation" (Frazier & Hearrington, 2017, p. 110). As you can see, that is way too much to try and cram into a faculty meeting, or even a full day workshop.
The key words that stood out to me from the above infographic were TIME, ONGOING SUPPORT, and TRANSFER.
Eric Sheninger emphasizes this and states that "if successful change is the goal, then investments have to be made into job-embedded, ongoing professional learning before, during, and consistently after any technology rollout or implementation of large-scale initiatives" (2019, p. 74).
Remember, the goal is not to just have all of the latest and greatest gadgets. The goal is to use technology to make an impact on student achievement. That takes time and focus. The article "8 Steps to Effective Professional Development" explains this further.
3 Phases of Professional Development
There are three phases of effective professional development.
- Planning
- Implementation
- Evaluation
Planning
The perception of teachers is that traditional professional development is ineffective because it is not personal or contextual. Technology coordinators should conduct a needs assessment to determine what PD teachers really want and need. This can be done through a survey or even an interview. Once some specific topics have been identified, the technology coordinator can then begin developing more personalized trainings (Karlin, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Ozogul, & Liao, 2018). Recently I heard about a school offering 101 and 102 level PD courses for their teachers. What a great way to personalize PD! I also like this idea because each person's time can be spent on developing new skills, and not waste their time on things they already know.
Implementation
PD should be a hands-on experience based in the context of how it is intended to be utilized. Just as we know this is best practice for our students, the same is true for adult learners too. A one-and-done approach is ineffective. Instead, ongoing training supported by a coach is more effective. Learning communities are another great way to ensure PD is more effective because members of the community can work together and support each other (Karlin, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Ozogul, & Liao, 2018).
Evaluation
The last and most overlooked aspect of tech PD is the evaluation phase. Rather than evaluating the actual presentation, true tech PD evaluation should focus on the change in the teacher's technology integration, as well as the direct impact to student learning. To get a complete picture, data can be collected based on teacher perceptions, classroom observations, student surveys, and achievement scores (Karlin, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Ozogul, & Liao, 2018).
As you can see, purchasing new technology is just the beginning of the process of effectively integrating technology use by teachers and students.
References
Karlin, M., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., Ozogul, G., & Liao, Y. (2018). K-12 technology leaders: Reported practices of technology professional development planning, implementation, and evaluation. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 18(4). https://citejournal.org/volume-18/issue-4-18/current-practice/k-12-technology-leaders-reported-practices-of-technology-professional-development-planning-implementation-and-evaluation
Frazier, M. & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (3rd ed). International Society for Technology in Education.
Giphy. Schitts Creek Comedy GIF by CBC. https://giphy.com/gifs/cbc-schitts-creek-cJMpdj8PNu4pczZWID
Moore, D. (2018, June). 8 steps to effective professional development. The institute for arts integration and STEAM. https://artsintegration.com/2018/06/01/8-steps-effective-professional-development/
Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed). Corwin.
Hey, Valerie! I enjoyed reading your post! I think professional development plays an integral part to creating an infused technology learning environment. I like the idea of evaluation because it provides feedback to let the presenter know how to be more effective. Planning is important as well; as the old saying, “ if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”
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ReplyDeleteValerie,
ReplyDeleteSuch a great blog post. I couldn’t agree more that professional development (PD) is important. It is so frustrating to receive an awesome new tool, but not know how to effectively implement it into my classroom. I loved the infographic you shared. Crawford and Nichol (2021) found that when teachers were provided with long-term PD, there was a significant increase in their self-efficacy, content knowledge, and motivation. This article agrees with your key word of ongoing. It can’t just be a one-and-done PD. I loved how you brought up the evaluation of the implementation of technology and student achievement. As Frazier and Hearrington (2017) state, “results from the assessment help demonstrate whether the technology program is making progress, determine if the investment has been worthwhile, and assist in making adjustments in the way the program is operating” (p. 178). We have to ask ourselves these important questions, and make adjustments so that the technology department is making a positive impact on student achievement.
References
Crawford, C., Obenland, C., & Nichol, C. (2021). An analysis of the effect of long-term professional development on teacher engineering self-efficacy and its impact on classroom instruction. Journal of STEM Outreach, 4(1).
Frazier, M., & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook (3rd ed.). International Society for Technology in Education.
Valerie,
ReplyDeleteI kept nodding as I read your blog post as so many of the points you made, I kept agreeing with. I, like you, agree that ongoing support is crucial when planning professional development. Too often, it is an isolated event that does not reach its full potential. Teachers need consistent support that goes beyond a workshop. Additionally, Davis (2015) states that PD should fit in with the long-term vision for a school or district. Too often it feels disconnected and disjointed. Districts would do better by being intentional about how they plan PD. Fantastic work!
Andrew Reid
References
Davis, V. (2015, April 15). 8 top tips for highly effective PD. George Lucas Educational Foundation. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/top-tips-highly-effective-pd-vicki-davis