Staff Development and Technology
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Online Lesson Contents |
Introduction |
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Part 2:
Issues in K-12 Staff Development Part 3:
Developing
Skills in the Use of Educational Technology |
Teachers frequently lack training in the use of technology. As a result, technology is often under utilized in schools. Ian Jukes, a former principal, muses on the problem of "proximal osmosis." He states that technology is commonly purchased and put in teachers' rooms with the mistaken belief that operation skills will magically flow from areas of higher concentration (the technological device) to lower concentration (the staff member). Moving away from proximal osmotic learning, this online module aims to provide insight into staff development with educational technology. | |
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Goals |
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Assignments |
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Read materials in this online lesson and follow links to other World Wide Web sites. Go to the threaded discussion forum titled, "Online Lesson 5- Technology and Staff Development," and respond to either of the following questions: What are the most important technology staff development issues at your school? What are potential barriers and solutions? -or- Compare and contrast two web resources for staff development found among the Asynchronous Professional Development links. What are the merits and limitations from your viewpoint?
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Go to Part 2- Issues in K-12 Staff Development
All technology professional development activities
should be placed in context of the California Standards for the Teaching
Profession.
Part 2: Issues
in K-12 Staff Development Staff development in technology needs to be seen in the larger context
of improving the effectiveness of teachers and the overall quality
of school programs. Stated differently, technology staff development
activities need to complement and enhance school wide improvement
activities. Current practices in staff development tend to fragment
learning into discipline areas or topics (i.e. science, math, reading,
Microsoft Word, behavior management, cooperative learning ). Time for staff development has generally decreased in California.
A study done by the Far West Laboratory (Staff Development in California:
Public and Personal Investments, Program Patterns and Policy Choices,
1991) found that staff development programs and services for teachers
and administrators account for approximately 1.8 percent of California's
annual funding for K-12 schools. The study also found that California's
staff development resources are deployed in ways that generally reinforce
existing patterns of teaching, conventional structures of schools,
and long-standing traditions of the teaching occupation. Looking to improve student learning and the effectiveness of schools,
the National Foundation for the Improvement of Education published
a report in 1996 titled, Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning:
Transforming Professional Development for Student Success. The
report made the following recommendations: Generally speaking, all technology professional development activities
should be placed in context of the California Standards for the Teaching
Profession. Adopted in July 1997, there are six overarching ideas: The California Standards for the Teaching Profession
Engaging and Supporting All Students in Learning Creating and Maintaining Effective Environments
for Student Learning Understanding and Organizing Subject Matter
for Student Learning Planning Instruction and Designing Learning
Experiences for All Students Assessing Student Learning Developing as a Professional Educator Developing these standards is a long-term endeavor. A bridge between
what students need to know and be able to do (academic content standards)
and what teachers need to know and be able to do as outlined in the
California Standards for the Teaching Profession, is outlined in a
document titled, Designs
for Learning. Designs for Learning is a resource to help teachers
and administrators develop and implement a professional development
plan that will significantly affect classroom instruction and will
result in higher levels of achievement for all students. Design Elements
are based on a review of the research and synthesis of what recent
national reports say about what constitutes high quality professional
development. Download
an eight page portable document file (pdf) containing a complete description
of Designs for Learning.
Go to Part 3- Developing Skills in the Use of Educational Technology
Part 3:Developing
Skills in the Use of Educational Technology
The development of skills in learning to ride a bicycle can be compared
to the progression of skills with technology. Looking closely, we
see the following stages of development: Stage 2: Consciously Unskilled (You know that you don't know.) Stage 3: Consciously Skilled (You know that you know.) Stage 4: Unconsciously Skilled (You don't know that you know.) Questions emerge when we consider these different stages in relation
to teachers and technology: Different Levels of Use- Learning From ACOT Stage Characteristics 1 Entry computers just out of boxes; lots of
questions about the physical set up and operations; frustration 2 Adoption computers are operational; many of the
setup questions have been answered but the connection to
teaching and learning is "just developing" 3 Adaptation technology is integrated into "traditional"
classroom projects- research papers, essays 4 Appropriation active learning projects are more of
a day to day reality-- students are doing more project based
work using technology... multimedia activities, camcorder
productions, integrated projects 5 Invention confidence to experiment with teaching,
learning and technology is exhibited by teacher; role of
teacher is more that of a facilitator; students are demonstrating
initiative in directing their own learning A common phenomena in technology staff development is to provide
technology skill instruction to all teachers regardless of their place
on this progression. Leaders mistakenly assume that once a teacher
has mastered the technical skills they will be able to integrate technology
into teaching and learning. Lin Foa, Michael Johnson, and Richard
Schwab published an article titled, "Connecting Schools Is Only a
Start," in the September 10, 1997 issue of Education Week.
Building on concepts from the ACOT levels of technology use,
this article presents understandings on what teachers need to be able
to do to effectively integrate technology in learning. Exerts from
this article are shared below in relation to the ACOT models
of use: Levels 1,2, and 3- Technical Skills Are Not Enough: Levels 4 & 5- Going Beyond Doing Old Things in New Ways: A useful analogy to the teacher's new role is the preparation a
climbing guide goes through before taking a group of new climbers
to the top of a mountain. Basic expertise and techniques must be
mastered, then flexibly combined with new routes or new approaches.
A lot of psychology has to be learned or intuited, and a fine balance
between calming fears and setting up challenges established. Often,
it is climbers' unexpected experiences along the way--the journey
itself--that create the foundation for continued exploration. And
the marvel of reaching the top is quite comparable to the "peak"
learning experiences we want all our children to achieve. Teachers need to master this same mix of content knowledge with
confidence about new techniques and approaches in their use of technologies.
They need opportunities to practice using software before introducing
it to students, while remaining flexible enough to allow kids to
become the "experts." They must provide, and be provided with, just
the right mix of motivation and security in the new classroom environment
created by telecommunications. And they must themselves regularly
experience those peak learning experiences in order to be able to
share them with their students." Targeting Staff Needs
Awareness of the ACOT levels
of teacher development help leadership teams plan appropriate
staff development activities. Effective school leaders must be able to apply understanding
from the ACOT levels of progression and prescribe specific
staff development activities for every staff member's needs.
For example, teachers at the first level benefit from one-on-one
assistance and technology skill development activities. Alternately,
teachers at the next level will obtain more benefits from activities
that demonstrate that the integration of technology in curriculum.
Awareness of the ACOT levels of teacher development help
leadership teams plan appropriate staff development activities
for the continuum of users at a site. Staff development activities need to be designed such that new knowledge
and skills will be transferred into classroom practice. According
to Bruce Joyce and Beverly Showers (Student Achievement Through
Staff Development- Fundamentals of School Renewal, Longman, 1995),
school planners need to consider their training expectations. What
outcomes are expected? Joyce and Showers say that school training
outcomes generally fall within the following areas: Design considerations will also be affected by content. Will the
training work to refine existing knowledge and skills -or- is it aimed
at wholly new skill repertoires? Joyce and Showers developed the following
matrix to help school leaders understand their task: The matrix displays the range of possibilities for a staff development
training. The left side of the figure identifies types of training
outcomes and the top right side of the figure describes the content
of the training in relation to the teachers' existing repertoire.
Technology staff development planners should consider how their specific
training goals fit in the matrix. When these objectives are identified
planners can then move on to the next task of designing a training
with the maximum probability that the desired effects will be achieved. Working to design a training, Joyce and Showers identify the following
training components/strategies: Joyce and Showers have done research on these strategies in relation
to the staff development training matrix. Their findings hold that
when training outcomes are focused on skill development and transfer
of training,, successful trainings (80% or more of the trainees achieve
goals) will incorporate: theory, demonstration, practice, and coaching.
Staff development activities that leave out practice and coaching
will not be effective (less than 25% of the trainees achieving goals)
for skill development and transfer of training.
Staff development activities need to be designed such that new knowledge
and skills will be transferred into classroom practice.
Stage 1: Unconsciously Unskilled (You don't know what you
don't know.)
Apple Computer did extensive studies on teacher use of computers
through their Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) Project. The ACOT
Project saw the following developmental stages among teachers learning
to use technology:
"Learning to use technologies is necessary but not sufficient.
A large chasm exists between knowing how to do a search on the Internet
and being able to build on the capabilities of the computer or the
video camera in one's curriculum. Too often, new technologies are
simply being pasted onto old methods of teaching. Using PowerPoint
to make presentations instead of a chalkboard, or trying to have the
entire class make use of a search conducted by a few kids at the computer,
does not begin to touch the power of what's possible."
"Flexibility and structure are the yin and yang of effective
use of technologies. As teachers move to new levels of comfort with
computers, most recognize that the power of the technologies cannot
be creatively exploited in a context of lockstep learning by everyone
at the same time. In many classrooms, project-based learning successfully
provides the framework or template that makes it possible to move
away from the whole-classroom model of teaching. But projects for
projects' sake can just as easily be a waste of time if students'
learning goals and the means to achieve them are not clearly structured,
communicated, and assessed.
Go to Part 4- Delivery of Staff Development
Part 4: Delivery
of Staff Development Increasingly technology is allowing for asynchronous
types of staff development opportunities.
Making Time for Staff Development Most staff development activities involve staff members attending
an event with a mentor, peer, coach, or trainer. Finding common planning
time can be a difficult task. Educators are being squeezed to perform
an increasing array of job related tasks, least among them is professional
development. The table below attempts to organize time options for
planning staff development.
Time Description During the School Day School Wide Staff Development Days- Release Day- Minimum Day- Prep Period- Rotating Substitute- Outside of the Regular School Day Before School After School/Evening Outside the School Year Summer/Winter Break/Spring Break Asynchronous Professional
Development Increasingly technology is allowing for asynchronous types of staff
development opportunities. Options of this kind are available "on
demand" by the teacher when it is convenient for them. Streaming audio
and video, web based courses, and interactive multimedia technologies
are setting the stage for this kind of flexibility. To obtain a sense
of what's possible in the asynchronous digital domain check out the
following links: Audible WebTeacher Tegrity George Lucas Educational
Foundation Web Based Resources for Further Study... Staff
Development Articles by Jamie McKenzie Finding
Time for Professional Development Technology Information
Center for Administrative Leadership Apple Learning
Interchange
http://www.audible.com
A source to download thousands of books in MP3 format. Fiction and
nonfiction titles are available at comparatively lower prices than
similar titles on audio cassette tapes.
http://www.webteacher.org/
Here's a website that supports development of personal skills in
relation to the Internet, email, discussion boards, HTML authoring
and other telecommunication skill topics.
http://www.tegrity.com/
Tegrity products work to convert classroom instruction into
engaging and effective web content for on-demand and live delivery.
It combines streaming video with traditional web based activities
in an online environment.
http://glef.org
The George Lucas Educational Foundation has a impressive collective
of web based materials to support professional development in technology
and other school reform areas.
Change is relentless in our communication-information based society.
Ongoing professional development is central to the improvement of
schools in the 21st century. The web sites below provide further resources
and information on staff development.
http://staffdevelop.org/articles.html
An excellent collection of articles about K-12 professional development.
This is one of my top choices for reading in the area of technology
and staff development.
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/educators/profdevl/pd300.htm
A paper by the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory which
offers ideas and models for increasing staff development time.
http://portical.org/
The Technology Information Center for Administrative Leadership
is a web portal offering school leaders a rich array of materials
to support the effective use of technology. These resources have
been collected and organized by practicing administrators and met
criteria judged to be of value to other administrators. You will
find these resources organized in a large database called the Matrix.
The Matrix was developed around six areas identified by different
focus groups identified as areas administrators needed skills to
show leadership in Educational Technology. The Matrix is comprised
of six smaller matrices representing the six identified areas as
shown below:
http://ali.apple.com/
Professional development resources that include forums, chat areas,
and other materials available from Apple Computer