Is Professional Development What’s Needed for Successful Technology Integration?

I am a huge fan of professional development because I love to learn new things and I continuously seek opportunities for self-improvement, especially when it will benefit my students. Most districts acknowledge the importance of providing professional development opportunities for their teachers and many are supportive of teachers seeking these opportunities on their own. Unfortunately, the professional developments provided by school districts are often unrelated to the use of new technologies or they fall short of properly preparing teachers to successfully integrate these new technologies. This leaves educators in a difficult position. According to Frazier and Hearrington, one of the things often “overlooked in the planning process is the allocation of resources for professional development and training” (2017, p. 172). They claim this oversight is a “critical mistake” and they argue that “the training and support of teachers and support staff must be included in the planning” (2017, p. 172). 

Since training should ideally be included when planning technology budgets the task of organizing these PD opportunities often becomes the responsibility of technology coordinators. For technology coordinators, who already have very busy and often overwhelming jobs, this is not always easy to arrange. Allocating money for training is difficult on tight budgets and it can be challenging to convince stakeholders of the importance of professional development when they can’t easily see where their money is going. In addition to funding concerns, finding the proper trainings can be a struggle. Fortunately, many technology coordinators are able to host a great deal of these trainings themselves. For example, one of the technology coordinators at my school frequently sends out short screen capture videos where he walks the faculty through minor technology processes. These videos are useful when it comes to learning how to use chrome extensions, touring new district software, or being reminded how to set up your gradebook. Unfortunately, this format cannot be used for widespread technology integration. In Digital Leadership, Eric Sheninger states that “the key to success relies on ensuring the pedagogical change . . . takes place as well as ongoing, job-embedded professional learning.” He goes on to say that “devices need to support or enhance learning, not drive instruction” (2019, pg. 128-129). In order for technology to truly engage students and benefit their overall learning, proper professional development and trainings are paramount. 

In Digital Leadership, Eric Sheninger provides numerous examples of ways in which leaders can not only model beneficial technology use but also creatively incorporate job-embedded training to aid with sustainable large-scale technology integration. These strategies can “allow staff to experience educational technology” (2019, p. 52). Many leaders model blogging as well as curating and maintaining professional learning networks (PLNs) on social media. The practices of the leaders in Sheninger’s book inspire their teachers to follow their lead and create their own PLNs. Finding time to conduct weekly trainings and providing opportunities for teachers to observe one another are other examples of ways that professional development can be incorporated without technology budgets taking a hit. While a number of the strategies mentioned above are not extremely expensive, they cannot replace the need for in-depth and immersive professional development. Proper planning for professional development is needed to “ensure all students are afforded the opportunity to learn effectively using technology” (Aldosemani, 2019, p. 46). 

Teachers know that “professional development programs are critical to sharpen their knowledge, skills, attitudes, and self efficacy for transformative practice,” but most teachers do not receive an adequate level of professional development (Aldosemani, 2019, p. 46). Ideally, educators would be able to receive any needed professional development while at work; however, we know this is not the case. Since professional development opportunities are often lacking, educators have started to advocate for their own learning needs in order to coordinate beneficial educational opportunities. Developing PLN’s through social media is one of the most popular ways that teachers have stayed in charge of their own progress and continued to meet the evolving needs of their students. Professional organizations are another great way for educators to take charge of their learning. Below you will find links to education associations and organizations, educational Twitter chats, and popular technology education blogs. Each of these is full of resources that can be used by educators for independent professional learning.

Resources

Aldosemani, T. (2019). Inservice teachers’ perceptions of a professional development plan B\based on SAMR model: A case study. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology - TOJET, 18(3), 46–53. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1223786.pdf

Frazier, M. & Hearrington, D. (2017). The technology coordinator’s handbook. (3rd edition). International Society for Technology in Education. 

Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.