The area that I felt needed the most attention was the area of Educator Preparation & Development. This particular area has shown progress with an upward trend but has not been able to break the Developing Tech barrier over the last 3 years. Within the Educator Preparation & Development key area is Professional Development Experiences, Models of Professional Development, Capabilities of Educators, Access to Professional Development, Levels of Understanding and Patterns of Use, and Professional Development for Online Learning. Schools are rated as either Early Tech, Developing Tech, Advanced Tech, or Target Tech.
The Long Range Plan in this area calls for educators to take the advantage of the professional development opportunities and apply the knowledge to their instruction in their classrooms. Professional development opportunities must be made available by the district or regional service center. Once the teacher has received professional development, he/she is expected to use the knowledge in the classroom and actively seek out avenues of professional development, such as online learning. According to the Campus Statewide Summary by Key Area compiled by the STaR Chart for TEA, my campus is very similar to other school campuses in the Educator Preparation area. In 2007-2008, 74.2% of campuses rated themselves in the Developing Tech classification. Most use technology for administrative tasks and classroom management. In addition, the 40% of educators met SBEC standards. In 2008-2009, my campus was very close to moving into the Developing Tech classification. This is the goal of our campus in this area for the next year.
I feel that in my district, the professional development opportunities for technology are mainly optional. There are many elective trainings but I cannot recall any mandatory in my four years with the district. I also feel that the educators on my campus are capable but if not made to attend professional development trainings, they will not elect to do so on their own. Another barrier in the Educator Preparation & Development area is the Levels of Understanding and Patterns of Use. Teachers can be trained on all applications but if they don't have any activities or lessons to use it with, it is meaningless. Learning technology with a practical use is engaging to the teacher. As far as online learning goes, it is also available to teachers but it is a small minority of people who take advantage of the opportunity. Again, unless it becomes a mandatory component of a teacher's job, it will not be taken seriously. In order to keep our students ahead in the technology game, we must be dedicated to learning ourselves and take the initiative.
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ReplyDeleteThe best way to get teachers to do technology professional development training is to schedule it on a designated professional development day on the district calendar. The first week back to work, prior to the arrival of students, is probably the best time for this. If teachers have to do this type of training on their own time, then it most likely won't happen. One of our readings even emphasized how important it is for the training session to replicate what the teacher will actually be experiencing. For example, if the teacher will only have access to a few computers for a whole class, then the training session should be modeled around that situation.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that we must make more mandatory requirements on Professional Development for teachers. The district I am working in currently offers a $1000 stipend to teachers who attend a minimum of 30 hours of professional development in a school year.
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