The Professional Development Hat - Goals

Professional development (PD) is a huge part of the ET's job. ETs need to find out what kind of PD is needed in the division, research those topics, either design a PD opportunity or seek out someone who has the expertise, present the PD, evaluate post-PD behaviour and implementation...it's a big job!

I've been thinking a lot about what Donna and I discussed in her interview about how teachers are comfortable with their own use of technology, so what kind of PD do we offer to take it to the next level. It seems to be the big question on a lot of people's minds as of late...with no obvious answers in sight. I did some poking around on the internet last night and came across an article by Ginger Rodriguez that explored the Critical Issue: Providing Professional Development for Effective Technology Use. The article provided some interesting research into what PD should look like for it to be most effective and some of the obstacles that stand in the way. I'm only going to comment on the things that really stuck out for me, so please do not consider this a comprehensive review of the article. That being said, I strongly recommend that you read it; they've got some interesting stuff to say!

1. Teachers should become fearless in their use of technology – I think this is a great articulation of the ultimate PD goal. Fear is a definite obstacle for technology usage in my school/division. I really don't think the fear is the technology itself but more looking like you don't know what you are doing that is the problem. Teachers pride themselves in being knowledgeable about a variety of things, so putting that at risk is a big deal. I think this whole idea is something that ETs need to be aware of and sensitive to. Just because we are ready for the technology, doesn't mean everyone else is.
   
2. Transform thinking of technology as software, hardware, and connections into being tools for teaching and learning. As ETs, we need to help teachers realize that technology doesn't need to be considered another add-on to the list of things to include in our day. If we can help teachers to realize that technology can be used as a teaching tool like a text or a handout, some of the fear mentioned above may dissipate and the "integration" of technology will become second nature instead. Hopefully.
   
3. Technology PD has to deviate from our traditional one-shot model – Technology is ever-evolving and it seems that as soon as you learn a program and get comfortable using it, it changes. For that exact reason, technology PD needs to be an ongoing process with repeated instruction and plenty (LOTS) of practice time. Within the article it said that 15 live or videotaped demonstrations on a topic resulted in modest-sized change in practice. At first I was totally shocked by that. Then I got thinking, aren't we taught that I student needs to see/hear/interact with a concept something like 50 times before it sticks. Well duh, shouldn't that same idea apply to teachers? The article also pointed out that substantial change in practice take 4-7 years in a resource-rich school and even longer in schools that lack resources. Good to know for us ETs! It's good to remember this when we aren't seeing the enthusiasm and results we had hoped for.
   
4. IT support needs to be immediate for teachers to stay engaged in the process – I think we can all appreciate this one. My division is quite vast and our IT department is quite small. As such, malfunctions take time to be addressed. Our in-house technology leader is able to fix/troubleshoot small issues, but most of the system is locked down, so we are pretty limited to what we can fix. In that same realm, new technologies need to be tested before implementation is encouraged (or, GASP, mandated). Have we learned nothing from Windows?! Make sure it works or people will get frustrated to the point of not wanting to use it.
   

If nothing else, Rodriguez has really helped to focus what needs to be accomplished by professional development in technology. Technology is such a large topic it is hard to know where to focus our professional development efforts to make the most significant impact.