Learners & Providers
This was harder than it looked, considering that I didn’t find any neat and simple solutions, but just parts of the puzzle.
The assignment:
You will begin by identifying a group of learners and a set of learning goals. You will search the Web for three examples of distance learning courses or programs that serve that group’s goals (e.g., health care office receptionists seeking customer service training). For each example, describe what kind of provider it is and write a summary of its activities. Then, compare the examples to one another and evaluate how well each one fulfills your goals.
LEARNERS & PROVIDERS ASSIGNMENT
For the purposes of this research I identify my target group of learners as the professional staff at my current school district. This is a relatively large and diverse group of educators, classroom teachers, educational support staff and other specialists. The district employs over 300 full and part time professional staff. This staff ranges widely in age and experience, and most notably in their ability to integrate technology into teaching.
In my new role as a member of the “Tech Team” I intend to be quite involved in the professional development of the staff in the area of educational technology integration. As part of our new (draft) six-year Strategic Plan, one of the objectives is to:
The Professional Development leaders in the district have intimated that they are considering some sort of distance learning (education?) solution as a way to deliver staff development, although other options remain available. It is in this vein that I have researched three possible solutions.
While reviewing these resources I kept the following key elements of a Professional Development plan in mind.
7 Key Elements of a PD Plan ( technology or otherwise )
1) Leadership – where are we going? – vision
2) Planning – administration, teachers, PD Committee, Technology
3) Assure Alignment to Goals (SMART Goals)
4) Conducted a needs assessment
5) Training time – accessible – equity for staff – accommodations
6) Follow up support
7) Assessment and Evaluation ( formative and summative )
1.) BlendedSchools.net
This year Upper St Clair entered into a pilot partnership with BlendedSchools.net. This company, based in rural central Pennsylvania, emerged from the need of rural schools to pool resources to efficiently offer a variety of courses, not least of all the AP courses that could not be offered without sufficient enrollment. BlendedSchools.net is a provider of both hosted services and pre-designed course content. The BlackBoard Academic Suite is the primary technology behind BlendedSchools.net, although the software is augmented by several additional plug-in style tools.
As you can see in the screenshot to the left, BSN provides standards-aligned courses for immediate consumption. It should be noted that the courses are provided, but an instructor must still manage the course.
Coursework is available in a variety of areas, including all academic areas, PSSA recovery and Professional Development. However, upon further examination, the coursework offered tends to be relatively poorly developed. The Professional Development modules available as part of BlenededSchools relate solely to how-to use BlackBoard.
Thus, BlendedSchools.net offers a viable platform for content delivery through the BlackBoard system, but the onus would be on the district to develop, design and implement an effective technology professional development program.
2) Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative (Fact Sheet)
The Teacher-to-Teacher initiative, sponsored by the US Department of Education. This resource, aimed at the development of “highly qualified teachers” is a combination of different modes of instruction. Professional Development is offered in various fields, including technology through partnerships with the Teacher Training Corps (including site-visits, webinars, email mentoring), email updates, Teacher Roundtables, Teachers Ask the Secretary [of Education], Tribal Teacher Workshops.
The nature of these resources is difficult to ascertain based on the limited information on the Government website. After following up on the resources associated with the program, it appears to be a catch-all for teacher training resources. Many of the resources provided show promise.
3) Discovery Education Professional Development -
Many Schools in Allegheny county already have a membership to the Discovery Education resources, but Discovery Education offers so much more than just the media resouces that many schools make use of.
Professional Development services to “train educators to meet the needs of technology-savvy students are available in both online (Webinar format) and in-person form by bringing in guest speakers.
I have met two of the DEN speakers, Steve Dembo and Lance Rogeux and found them to be excellent speakers.
Another valuable part of the DEN package is the included DEN Educators Network, a community of learners, including blogs from DEN Certified educators.
Evaluation:
In order to fulfil the seven elements of a successful professional development plan, it is important that the professional development team first conduct the first four steps. The leadership & vision section stems from the (draft) Strategic plan. For the first time, I feel confident that the leadership (not just a few individuals) shares a vision for where we are going in technology professional development. The planning will be intensive, an effort requiring the combined skills of the central leadership and professional development team, with feedback from the teachers themselves. The plan must be aligned to goals set forth in the new strategic plan. These broad goals have been set, but must be made concrete in the coming months.
It is my expressed opinion that professional development should reflect the same principles of education that we profess to value in our classrooms. In this case, I primarily mean differentiation of instruction. The fact is that not all teachers need the same level of technology professional development. Some are quite comfortable with technology and move quickly through training, others require more assistance and time to master the skills. A technology professional development program that challenges staff to apply their skills, and contribute to a community of learning will have to start with some sort of needs assessment.
The final three elements are time, support and assessment. Time exists for professional development, but perhaps we need to question whether the current model (in-service trainings) is the best way to deliver technology education. Support could be central in nature, but could also stem from a community of learners contributing assistance, or a mentor program for teachers. Lastly, Assessment and Evaluation means that the users of the professional development tool gives feedback on more than just a reaction-level (how did you like it), but also gives information about the level of learning, the transfer of learning into practice, and more big-picture results such as effect on student learning.
None of the three tools alone are enough to provide an out-of-the box solution for professional development at Upper St. Clair. However elements of all three could be combined to deliver a powerful package. By drawing on the familiar BlendedSchools platform as a tool for LEARNING, teachers would become more knowledgeable about the opportunities for TEACHING. Most importantly, the BlendedSchools platform allows for a level of local-control (and differentiation if developed properly.) By supplementing locally-developed content from the Professional Development team, with high-quality resources from vendors like Discovery & the Teacher Training Corps. The district can continue to “be visionary and vigilant in addressing the constant evolution of technology and the ways that these emerging technologies can augment thinking.” Which is, after all the overall goal.
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