Technology for the Teachers

Talking Tech

This blog has allowed me opportunity to reflect on my daily responsibilities as the digital media specialist for a high school. I serve a new role and have the joy and burden of making it my own. We serve over 1200 students, 88 certified teachers, and about 40 support staff who work with students and teachers. As the digital media specialist, I teach and train staff, and sometimes, students, on the use of available technology. We are fortunate to have support at all levels recognizing the value and need for infusing technology into instruction/learning as we design opportunities for students and teachers.

 

What We Have Available

At present our classrooms have Elmos (digital document cameras), SmartSlates, ceiling mounted projectors with screens, teacher laptops, and student desktops. In addition, we have several labs that have the latest set ups, Kindles in the media center, 30 iPods, and over 425 iPads. The iPads and iPods just arrived this year. Technology training accounts for about 60-70% of my day. The rest is devoted to e2020 (online course management), Angel (online learning management system, similar to Blackboard), and Thinkgate (online student assessment system). You see, I swim in technology all day, and I enjoy most every minute. I would not say that we have unlimited resources by any means, but we are in a good place. We are moving toward a one-to-one roll out for student iPads in the near future.

Present Levels of Engagement

You may be thinking, “What do they do with all of those things, especially the iPads and iPods?” Well honestly some teachers use them more than others. My goal is to ease teachers into a stronger comfort zone so that they want to use them more. I don’t want anyone to ever feel forced to use something that will enhance student learning. I hope they want to use technology more and more as the year progresses. Some teachers design lessons that use a lot of technology, and with minimal coaxing they now often include their students in conversations about lesson design. I propose this as a way to take some of the burden off of the teachers. Students can toss out creative ideas for covering those Georgia Performance Standards when asked. They will even spend their own time reviewing apps for the iPads and iPods if they think they will get to use technology in class.

We also have a handful of reluctant teachers, and I have to emphasize that they are not against using technology. They just aren’t as comfortable with it as others.  I understand because I am more comfortable with the things I use daily. I seldom pick up the DVD remote at home, and when I do I usually end up handing it over to my husband. Now, the Dish remote is a different story. I can work it in the dark, especially the DVR features. I don’t handle reluctant teachers with kid gloves, but I do give them extra attention in terms of training, and I try to offer extra assistance or additional small group sessions for them. I have found that the one-on-one may take an abundance of time in the beginning, but it is worth it in the end.

Training Plan

I have learned that providing snacks makes all training sessions a little more bearable, so I try to keep plenty on hand. We are fortunate that our school provides substitutes for half and full day training sessions throughout the year. I offer short training sessions during long lunch breaks (lunch periods are 60 minutes) and allow staff to bring their lunch to the training area in the media center or computer lab. If I had to make a list of do’s and don’ts I am sure that it would change quite a bit by the end of the school year, but here is what I have so far:

Do…provide snacks, keep it as short as possible (value others’ time), focus on small steps, gauge the level of expertise/comfort of individuals before trainings, offer varied levels of instruction when possible, offer follow-up sessions, use experts in the building to demonstrate and build buy-in, use students as examples, use students to demonstrate, provide cheat sheets for those who need written directions, do provide electronic cheat sheets, ask teachers what they need/still need, schedule opportunities for teachers to talk about what works, schedule opportunities for teachers to share/follow-up a few weeks after trainings to talk about how they are using the technology, bring in outside experts when possible (fresh perspectives are important).

Don’t…forget about the training the minute it is over, assume they understand just because they are quiet, expect everyone to understand with the same ease, forget that that they need time to practice/explore, forget that feedback can improve your next training session, recreate the wheel…use what is already available (online tutorials, YouTube, etc.).

Extra Care

Sometimes you just sense a need. I have made it my personal goal to help anyone who asks and to seek out those who do not ask but may be in need of tech tips/training. During a training session I slip those who seem a bit frustrated or less adept at technology a note offering personal assistance, and when I drop by to help, I always leave a snack and a personal note on their desks or in their mailboxes. If teachers think you genuinely care, you will build relationships that will go a long way in your pursuit to engage teachers and students in lessons that have strong technology components.

What We Have Accomplished This Year

·         Elmo Training

·         SmartSlate Training

·         SamrtBoard Training

·         iPad & iPod Training by Department

·         Apps Selection Training

·         App Sharing Time

·         Webpage Design

·         Tech Tip of the Week (Glogster, Animoto, Doodle, Weebly, Wikis, MovieMaker, Office 2010, Mail Merge, etc.)

I also keep attendance records so that teachers can earn PLU’s for participation. They can earn additional PLU’s for evidence of implementation.

Where Are We Going From Here

I have realized that I can’t train everyone on everything, so we are working with the Freshmen Student Council (as sponsors) to renovate an empty room in the media center and creating a place for students to teach other students and teachers alike. It is the Genius Bar/Geek Squad approach. We plan to open in January during all three long lunch periods. Students and teachers will be able to use laptops, iPads, and iPods, as well as their own devices to explore and share tips and ideas with each other.

Another idea that I am working on is partner training. I hope I have some volunteers offer to work together to share learning their technology learning with each other. Then, I want to have a session on an early release day with about ten stations set up for teachers to share with other teachers in 5 minute speed rounds. I just want them to see in a quick way that others are using technology. I may even video them with the iPads and create a collection of short presentations that I can have available for them on my new webpage.  I may extend my idea/plan to include students. I’m still working out the details and talking it over with colleagues and students.

If I had to choose just a handful of important words to sum up the key points to consider in regard to technology training they would probably be:

I am including a few links to some great reading to add to my chat.

http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr176.shtml

http://ftp.pisd.edu/techs/train.htm

http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/11/08/teacher-training-should-start-before-ipad-deployment.aspx