The learners for the purpose of my project are my teaching colleagues at my school as well as my administrators. I have two goals with my project, the first is to get the technology aspire team working on defining goals and tackling access issues and the second is to get a group of teachers together to work on computer and edtech skills.
Aspire Team: This small group of teachers is quite experienced with technology and are likely to be willing to listen to my ideas about Bring Your Own Device. We will have new administrators this year, both Principal and Vice-Principal. Because I have not yet had the chance to work with these administrators I am unsure of their educational philosophies concerning technology. As a committee in general we will also need to consider the reactions and input that all of the staff will voice regarding a BYOD policy in the school.
Teachers considerations:
-equity of access for all students
-best use of their time >is the pro-d to learn about devices and how to incorporate them into their teaching worth their time?
-teacher autonomy
-comfort level with implementing technology
-connection to learning outcomes
-ensuring students are developing the skills that they need (what are the skills they need? The world is changing rapidly is required skill set too?)
-communication and collaboration strategies with colleagues, students, and parents
-frustration with technology department and the slow process to get things done
-technical language needed to talk about technology (admitting that they may not know as much as they would like to) (fear of having our practice judged)
-appropriate use of class time by students
-cybersafety and cyberbullying
-theft of devices
Administrators Considerations:
-Student safety (cyber bullying, cybersafety)
-security of devices (theft is a concern)
-educational benefits
-fit with District policy
Pro-d Project:
When communicating with teachers in my school I need to keep in mind that there are various levels of comfort with technology within the large group and varying levels of willingness to move forward with technology. I may need to form more than one pro-d group to address the needs of the different teachers. Those new to technology sometimes feel that workshops move too fast, while those experienced with technology feel that workshops drag too much and that they are not learning enough to make them worth their time. Also need to make sure that teachers get to follow their interests and that they get something out of the process that works for their own practice.
Hi Cherise,
It looks like you will have a busy year ahead with your Aspire Team. I understand what you are saying with regards to people feeling they don’t get what they want out of a pro-d workshop. I have found that when pro-d on similar topics is grouped according to grade level, for example (primary and intermediate groups), it is more productive and useful. I think it would be a great idea to split up the pro-d in to two groupings – perhaps a morning session with one group and an afternoon session with the other group. Having a new administration can also be a challenge/adjustment. Good luck with it all!
If you start from the perspective of facilitating learning, rather than using technology, you will probably find a more productive conversation ensues. When the technology is put first, the conversation is very limited because using digital technology isn’t inherently the best learning activity no matter what the topic. On the other hand, learning facilitated by technology can be a much more productive engagement than learning without. Educators tend to put the technology first and then try to talk about how to use it. We need to put the learning first and then talk about how technology can support learning. This is true for student learning, it is also true for teacher learning.