Our school system provides a lot of access to technology training. At our school alone, we have someone come each month to provide a "technology update" to all the teachers. This means they learn about new and different programs available or how to use something like I-Parent or Smartboards. The media specialist at my school also tries to encourage different technology use of kid-safe and friendly search engines and websites (such as Nettrekker and GALILEO). The county really tries to help teachers and students stay on the cutting edge of technology for educational purposes. Also, because a lot of the teachers at my school are younger, they are familiar and comfortable with using the programs and systems provided. I think the hardest thing about incorporating technology is getting teachers to practice with it and use it on a regular basis. I think once they do that, they are much more likely to use daily and encourage their students to use it.
As far as staff development goes for technology training I would try to provide many opportunities for teachers and students to access the tools and programs. It is also important to not only provide instruction on using the systems, but also provide practice time. You don't become an expert on something overnight or after one training session. Having short handouts and step-by-step instructions available also helps the technology get used more frequently. Collaborating with teachers on lessons and units is another way to help encourage and integrate technology into classrooms.
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2 comments:
I think you hit it right on the head Hollie by pointing out that you need to continuously work with something...we don't learn everything we need to know in just one shot. So many people I know think they should be an expert after their first time with a new piece of technology that they fail to grasp the depth and breadth of the technology.
I have not heard of a school providing monthly technology trainings before. That seems like a great way to keep technology on-going as well as a way to show the staff that your school sees technology as a priority.
You brought up an important part of technology training that is rarely offered – time to practice and play around with the new technology. It seems like a no brainer, but I can only remember one particular training I had where time was built in to play with what we were learning. It was the best training I had, and the one that I applied the most in my classroom. As a media specialist, I will definitely apply the idea of practice time to my trainings.
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