Technology

"Revamping Professional Development for Technology Integration and Fluency" Sandra Kay Plair

Summary: This article discusses the difficulty that veteran teachers (those with 15+ years of service) have implementing technology into their classrooms. Many of these veteran teachers fear their lack of knowledge will inhibit the lesson or something will break and they wont know how to fix it. Plair suggests the implementation of a knowledge broker to act as a go-between providing support for teachers implementing technology. While many teachers attend professional development on technology, there is no one to support their efforts to incorporate it into their lessons. A knowledge broker would act as an on-site expert to assist in choosing the most effective technology and implementing into the content areas.

Plair, S. (2008). Revamping Professional Development for Technology Integration and Fluency. //Clearing House//, //82//(2), 70-74. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

__**Updated and submitted for final paper 11/8/2010**__
 * Technology (Courtney) **

The Wingfield School District has made a commitment to becoming a technology driven district. The lack of progress in this reform at Hickory Ridge High School is unacceptable. The District has sent a core group of individuals to technology-based industry tours and forums on the implementation of pilot programs for technology reform, without seeing tangible results. With the support of the Board, I will implement a four-pronged approach to improving technology integration at Hickory Ridge High School. First, an in-depth climate assessment needs to be administered to determine the level of proficiency among the staff. This assessment should include information on the barriers staff feels may hinder them from implementing technology into their lessons and their level of comfort and proficiency with a range of software and hardware. The District must provide support for those teachers working to attain technological fluency through professional development and on-site knowledge brokers. The second step is to employ on-site knowledge brokers. These individuals will serve as go-betweens from the professional development at the District level and the teachers’ implementation in the classroom. Many veteran teachers are apprehensive to incorporate technology into the classroom due to their lack of troubleshooting abilities. An on-site knowledge broker will be available to assist in the pedagogical implementation of technology as well as the technical mechanics of the hardware and software. Knowledge brokers will assist teachers in choosing the correct technology to implement into their lessons; they are instructional leaders. Teachers are busy keeping current on their content areas therefore; they have little time to include the most up to date trainings on technology. This is where a knowledge broker will come in. The knowledge broker will attend trainings and research innovative technologies to integrate into the classroom. They will then broker that knowledge within the school to assist in the complete integration of technology at Hickory Ridge High School (Plair, 2008). Next, technology implementation will be monitored through lesson plans, professional development plans, and classroom observations. All lesson plans should identify some form of technology used in each lesson. The use of technology should vary depending on the lesson being presented. The knowledge broker will assist in determining what is appropriate for the lesson. Teachers must remember that the knowledge broker is there as a technology leader to guide and assist in technology instruction. Each classroom teacher will also be required to incorporate a SMART technology goal into his or her Professional Development Plan. This goal must be measurable and documented through lesson plans and administrative observations. At the end of each quarter the teachers and students will take part in a technology survey to anonymously assess the success of technology integration at Hickory Ridge. Finally, the district wide use of distance learning for professional development will serve as a model for teachers in the implementation of technology in their classrooms. Teachers will be encouraged through professional and monetary opportunities to take part in professional development offered via distance learning. According to Duncan-Howell (2010), teachers learn best through collaboration and therefore successful professional development must provide for a network where teachers can collaborate and support each other. The teachers and staff at Hickory Ridge are educated on the various forms of technology at their disposal; I believe they will be more apt to integrate it into their classrooms. Technology integration is changing the way teachers teach and students learn. Many veteran teachers are unsure of their role in this changing environment, where they are no longer the keepers of knowledge but the facilitators of learning (Hartnell-Young, 2006). The increase in technology places a greater responsibility on teachers to manage their students and their use of the technology, through proper professional development and knowledge brokering this burden will become the responsibility of the entire school and District.

References

Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers making connections: Online communities as a source of professional learning. //British Journal of Educational Technology//, 324-340. Hartnell-Young, E. (2006). Teachers' roles and professional learning in communities of practice supported by technology in schools. //Journal of Technology and Teacher Education//, 461-80. Plair, S. K. (2008). Revamping professional development for technology integration and fluency. //The Clearing House//, 70-74.

__**Updated and submitted for final paper 11/2/10**__

The Wingfield School District has made a commitment to becoming a technology driven district. The lack of progress in this reform at Hickory Ridge High School is unacceptable. The District has sent a core group of individuals to technology-based industry tours and forums on the implementation of pilot programs for technology reform, without seeing tangible results. With the support of the Board, I will implement a four pronged approach to improving technology integration at Hickory Ridge High School. First, an in-depth climate assessment needs to be done to determine the level of proficiency among the staff. This assessment should include information on the barriers staff feels may hinder them from implementing technology into their lessons and their level of comfort and proficiency with a range of software and hardware. The District must provide support for those teachers working to attain technological fluency through professional development and on-site knowledge brokers. The second step is to employ on-site knowledge brokers. These individuals will serve as go-betweens from the district level professional development and the teachers’ implementation in the classroom. Many veteran teachers are apprehensive to incorporate technology into the classroom due to their lack of troubleshooting abilities. An on-site knowledge broker will be available to assist in the pedagogical implementation of technology as well as the technical mechanics of the hardware and software. Knowledge brokers will assist teachers in choosing the correct technology to implement into their lessons, they are instructional leaders. Where teachers are busy keeping current on their content areas, they have little time to include the most up to date trainings on technology. This is where a knowledge broker will come in. The knowledge broker will attend trainings and research innovative technologies to integrate into the classroom. They will then broker that knowledge within the school to assist in the complete integration of technology at Hickory Ridge High School (Plair, 2008). Next, technology implementation will be monitored through lesson plans, PDPs, and classroom observations. All lesson plans should identify some form of technology used in each lesson. The use of technology should vary dependent on the lesson being presented. The knowledge broker will assist in determining what is appropriate for the lesson. Teachers must remember that the knowledge broker is there as a technology leader to guide and assist in technology instruction. Each classroom teacher will, also be required to incorporate a SMART technology goal into their Professional Development Plan. This goal must be measurable and documented through lesson plans and administrative observations. At the end of each quarter the teachers and students will take part in a technology survey to anonymously assess the success of technology integration at Hickory Ridge. Finally, the district wide use of distance learning for professional development will serve as a model for teachers in the implementation of technology in their classrooms. Teachers will be encouraged through professional opportunities and monetary opportunities to take part in processional development offered via distance learning. Once the teachers and staff at Hickory Ridge are educated on the various forms of technology at their disposal, I believe they will be more apt to integrate it into their classrooms.

VERY ROUGH DRAFT of Technology section 10/20/10

The Wingfield School District has made a commitment to becoming a technology driven district. The lack of progress in this reform at Hickory Ridge High School is unacceptable. The District has sent a core group of individuals to technology-based industry tours and forums on the implementation of pilot programs for technology reform, without seeing tangible results. With the support of the Board, I will implement a three pronged approach to improving technology integration at Hickory Ridge High School. First, an in-depth climate assessment needs to be done to determine the level of proficiency among the staff. This assessment should include information on the barriers staff feels that may hinder them from implementing technology into their lessons. The District must provide support for those teachers working to attain technological fluency through professional development and on-site knowledge brokers. The second step is to employ on-site knowledge brokers. These individuals will serve as go-betweens from the district level professional development and the teachers’ implementation in the classroom. Many veteran teachers are apprehensive to incorporate technology into the classroom due to their lack of troubleshooting abilities. An on-site knowledge broker will be available to assist in the pedagogical implementation of technology as well as the technical mechanics of the hardware and software. Knowledge brokers will assist teachers in choosing the correct technology to implement into their lessons, they are instructional leaders. Where teachers are busy keeping current on their content areas, they have little time to include the most up to date trainings on technology. This is where a knowledge broker will come in. the knowledge broker will attend trainings and research innovative technologies to integrate into the classroom. They will then broker that knowledge within the school to assist in the complete integration of technology at Hickory Ridge High School (Plair, 2008). Next technology implementation will be monitored through lesson plans, PDPs, and classroom observations. All lesson plans should identify some form of technology used in each lesson. The use of technology should vary dependent on the lesson being presented. The knowledge broker will assist in determining what is appropriate for the lesson. Teachers must remember that the knowledge broker is there as a technology leader to guide and assist in technology instruction. Each classroom teacher will, also be required to incorporate a SMART technology goal into their Professional Development Plan. This goal must be measurable and documented through lesson plans and administrative observations. At the end of each quarter the teachers and students will take part in a technology survey to anonymously assess the success of technology integration at Hickory Ridge.