Technology integration through staff development

Teachers--In-service training;Educational technology

Sammam, MarkZbikowski, John M. ;

University of Wisconsin

关键词: Teachers--In-service training;    Educational technology;   

Others  :  https://minds.wisconsin.edu/bitstream/handle/1793/28970/Samman2007.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: University of Wisconsin

【 摘 要 】

How does staff development in education insure that all learners meet theintended learning outcomes? At the time of this study most staff development forteachers was designed to get as many learners as possible familiar with a particular skillor concept in a one-shot workshop. There was no system to meet the needs of learnerswho did not understand the concept the first time taught. This study was to find out howteachers would respond to a more sustained and continuous form of instruction,emphasizing their individual learning needs after a technology staff developmentworkshop.Data were collected through interviews conducted before and after a staffdevelopment workshop that provided two teachers with individualized continuoustechnology training. Observation notes were used during this follow-up training tocorroborate my interpretation of the interview data.Both teachers benefited from sessions that met their technology needs. The morea session was tailored to meet their technological needs, the more the teachers integratedtechnology into their respective curricula. Each session was designed to reinforce andbuild on skills learned during the previous training session. Because of this continuity theteachers were feeling more comfortable using a computer and they achieved a deeperunderstanding of the skills taught.Data collected through pre- and post-technology training and mentoringinterviews produced three themes. They were the comfort level of the participants, thebenefit of continuous training and the integration of technology into the curriculum withcontinuous training. Integration of technology happened as the participants feltcomfortable enough to share their areas of weakness and as they became aware that therevwas an instructor flexible enough to meet their needs. There were long gaps in betweentraining sessions that had a negative impact on the progression of the participants.With mentoring, the teachers successfully integrated technology into theircurricula through software evaluation. One of the teachers previewed and bought readingsoftware to meet the needs of below level learners and above level learners. The otherteacher started to take her students to the computer lab to supplement grade-levelcurricula with technology. She began by having the students do Internet research on twomajor topics in Life science. They also learned how to incorporate technology into theircurricula through training in the use of software such as Microsoft Office and Internetresearch.Results of this study suggested that staff developers would be more successful ifthey created technology learning committees that would increase the comfort level of theparticipants by addressing their needs, and conducted supplemental technology mentoringsessions like one-to-one small break-out lessons or partner guidance sessions fortechnology integration.