Educators must strive to
continue to grow professionally by staying up to date with the latest
technology and how it can be used in the classroom. They must be able to use the technology to
bring about the learning that is planned for.
This professional development requires time and resources that are
already stretched. It also requires a
commitment by the school system to provide the structure in which these new
tools can be developed and used.
In my analysis of the
statewide campus summary of the STaR Chart feedback, I have noticed that the
largest majority of schools fell into the Developing Tech category of this
particular area, Educator Preparation.
Out of all four areas and four categories, this was the single biggest
group. Also, on my particular campus,
this area, Educator Preparation, had the lowest average score over the last
three years. This indicates that
although the other areas are improving, we are not keeping up with that growth
in Educator Preparation. I think there
are two fundamental problems in the way we attack this issue.
The first is that we do not
provide adequate, strategic, structured, differentiated, and systematic
professional development. What we
provide is usually a broad overview of available resources, and then we expect
the teachers to spend time investigating, practicing, and implementing these
tools. However, educators are under
constant pressure for short-term improvement, so their own long-term education
is neglected. We must differentiate our
professional development programs. We
target their needs based on their readiness for certain types of
technology. It must be structured to
help them to integrate it into their specific practices. Finally it needs to be part of a system that
will help them become well rounded in a specific skill set. These new skills need to become part of their
normal activities; otherwise the learning will be short lived.
The second fundamental
problem with the way we attack this issue is we do not set them up for
success. A component of this is
time. I have learned that unless we take
something off of their plate, we should not put something else on it. I know that is easier said than done, but we
must make an effort to streamline some systems that allow teachers to take
something off of their plate before placing a professional development goal onto
their plates. Now, with that comes a set
of structured supports and accountability.
Teachers must be held accountable to implementing the technology they
learn into their lessons. They should be
allowed to investigate, practice, and implement these tools with our
support. That support and time costs
money, but it is money worth investing.
Once these teachers begin their journey to “Advanced Tech”, and then
they are more likely to continue without our constant prodding and nagging. It becomes something they want to do and
enjoy doing for their students, because they have seen it work in their own
classrooms.
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