Close to the end of last school year, my principal started our school’s Instructional Design Team. This is considered the umbrella where all of the school district’s initiatives (Working on the Work, Engagement Centered Schools, Standards Based Classrooms, and I wonder if all the other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the principal or designee) fall under. I was appointed the leader of the team and am working closely with my principal and other team members to develop a plan focusing on helping all teachers at my school incorporate harmonious instruction in their classrooms. Shortly after my appointment, I took the Instructional Design course at UWG where I worked on a yearlong agenda assignment in regards to integrating information literacy into the teachers’ curriculums at my school. All of our students have to complete Senior Projects where they must produce a MLA paper and actual product. Therefore, I created a module project that will help all teachers with the school’s OPAC, evaluating online resources, GALILEO, plagiarism/copyrights, MLA (citations), researching/writing, incorporating charts and data, presentation guidelines, public speaking, and Web 2.0 tools that can be later taught to the students in their classrooms. For the most part, the majority of the teachers at my school have some type of technology experience due to our students receiving some instruction via the computer on NovaNet. Sometimes teachers come to me because they forgot how to do certain features in Microsoft Word or Excel because they do not use the feature often. Just like any other school, our teachers probably range from beginners to experts in their own rights. Most teachers know the very basics of Microsoft Word, email, and how to add attachments but the teachers need to know what the library has to offer and about technologies around the school (Jurkowski, 2010, p. 162).
Not only would I talk with people outside of your school who work with technology integration, but I would also employ the expertise of my co-workers to help with presenting/developing modules for In-Service/Professional Development. I feel that reaching out to them will let them know that I know that they are good at what they do and I want to work with them. In addition, I feel that the others involved will be more receptive if they were getting their information from an expert instead of an ‘excellent researcher’. Time, energy, resistance, constantly changing technology, and cost issues are problems/barriers that need to be overcome to have productive technology staff development (Jurkowski, 2010, p. 163).
Our school district provides technology training for employees across the district. We have to view course offerings and register online over the WAN via EmployeeNet. Sometimes when a new piece of software is being introduced across the district, either our school’s Instructional Technology Specialist will have trainings at our school on our planning periods for small groups or at faculty meetings for the entire faculty and staff. Also, when we started using our new grade book and attendance software at the beginning of this school year the teacher who helps with FTE, scheduling, etc. re-delivered what she was taught this summer. We had this training during our Pre-Planning days; received instructional materials and handouts; and had to sign off that we participated. As the Design Team leader, I have created and emailed quarterly Design Tips newsletters that are shared, discussed, and implemented by the faculty and staff about Language of the Standards, Word Walls, Essential Questions; Peer Focus Walks; and Openings, Closings, and Work Sessions based on Standards-Based classrooms. Some of the information is related to technology and some not.
“There are several different ways to reach teachers. The most effective in terms of reaching the greatest number of people at a single time is simply the traditional large-group session. However, don’t let that stop you from working with smaller groups or even one-on-one. Furthermore, informal instruction, which can be offered on the fly, is often overlooked but should be included in your record keeping” (Jurkowski, 2010, p. 165).
According to Jurkowski (2010), “time and money spent on programs that faculty and staff consider a waste of time won’t boost morale and will only make future development endeavors more difficult to accept” (p. 162) therefore it is important to assess yourself and the audience; analyze the learner; select your instructional objectives; provide incentives for those attending, if you can; plan materials and activities that are related to the audience and objectives; utilize guided practice; try to involve small groups rather than large ones; and evaluate the in-service (p. 166).
References
Jurkowski, O. L. (2010). Technology and the school library: A comprehensive guide for media specialists and other educators. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteI like the way you made connections between the information Jukowski discusses and your own experiences. The text information is valuable, but the ways and means practitioners apply that information make it much more relevant.
It looks as if you and your district are taking a multi-pronged approach and covering all the bases you can: face-to-face one-on-one, small group, and large group; site based and district-wide; virtual in modules and emails. And you’re tapping all available resources – in-house talent, outside trainers, and redelivery. Whew!
That’s probably representative of what most schools/districts are doing. Technology advances are coming so fast and furious, there’s no other way to keep up. But I’m finding an increasing lack of coordination and cohesion in training programs of late. There are so many initiatives, the system is becoming overloaded. Add the budget crunch to the mix, and the training is often abbreviated at best.
I know we’re feeling the strain at my school. Seems being flexible and resourceful are our best options.
Liz
Cynthia,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post. I think technology training is an interesting issue facing school systems today. I think school systems often spend a great deal of time and money purchasing new technology that rarely gets used because there is simply not enough training for the teachers. I thought it was great that you developed an in-service about using OPAC and Galileo. Many teachers are old enough that the libraries we remember are quite different from what we have today. When I first began this program it took me some time to figure out how to use all that Galileo had to offer. It is a wonderful new world but if you don't know how to use it then it totally gets wasted. I also love that you include technology tips in your newsletter. This is a really great idea and easy enough to incorporate. Thanks!
You reach the most people when you exposed them to new ideas and technology during a big, well-attended meeting. However, these teachers are a captive audience; are they listening and paying attention, or are they zoned out and wishing they were in their rooms grading papers? If the teachers who miss the information for one reason or another need to—or decide to—learn the new technology, they need to have a learning module available to them that they can work on in their own time and at their own pace. Faculty meetings are inconvenient and time consuming and they really do negatively affect teachers’ morale, as you said. At our school, each grade level of teachers takes turns providing food and drinks for faculty meetings; otherwise, I think our teachers would really be disgruntled about having to attend.
ReplyDeleteNew technology comes along every day, and media specialists need to learn it, analyze it, and advertise it to teachers so that they can decide for themselves which ones would work for them in their classrooms. Teaching interested teachers in small groups or one-on-one is an excellent idea. When they have learned and used the new technology successfully, they will tell other teachers and the benefits with spread by word of mouth.
I also enjoyed reading your post. It's sounds like the school you work at is very proactive, and you are doing an excellent job in fulfilling the role of instructional consultant with the committee which you serve on and the module that you helped create. Honestly, creating modules like that which teachers can use are probably more effective than faculty meetings because they are more hands on and self-paced.
ReplyDeleteAt our school, faculty meetings are a chore and something that are not met with open arms. Creating an alternative to that (at least for technology trainings) is well worth the extra effort if only teachers will participate. In our district, we have an e-learn site that is loaded with different how-to manuals, interactive websites, and other resources. However, it needs to be promoted, because not all teachers in the district know about it nor do they use it. I didn't even know about it until we had a mass training on it during a mandatory professional learning day!
Mass trainings can be effective, if they are done efficiently, proactively, and with humor. At the media center where I do field experience, they actually have Saturday trainings! I'm not sure how they get people to show up for them (but I'll be finding that out next semester) because I'm going to be assisting with one (setting it up, and teaching a short topic)! I'm very interested to see how such trainings can be utilized in a productive and efficient way so that one's efforts and time are not wasted.
Joy
Joyce...I too am interested in finding out about the Saturday trainings. Hopefully we will have a class together in the future so I can hear about this.
ReplyDeleteimsuebusy...My school has a 90-minute Professional Development Meeting today.:(
Ladies...I believe in KISS...Keep it short and simple
Thanks for responding,
Cynthia