Technology develops so fast these days that is difficult to stay completely up to date. Resources, apps, or hardware that we use to teach last year may be outdated this year. At my school, I am never required to attend any workshops specifically geared towards ICT. We have complete autonomy over what Pro-D we choose. Though I do often choose ICT related Pro-D, this is definitely not enough to keep my skills up to date. We only have 6 Pro-D days in a year, and sometimes I need to use those to develop other skills as well such as literacy, working with special needs students, or curriculum implementation. This means that it is largely up to the individual teachers to find their own ways to develop their ICT skills.
The video above shows an example of what is possible when everyone at a school is united in a effort to make a “technology-infused future school.” Needless to say, ongoing professional development is key in making a model like this work. We see that teachers are connected to other educators around the world. They use Skype calls to model lessons for each other and offer constructive feedback to make the lessons even better. Skip to 5:00 of the video to see this in action. Unfortunately, having a widespread network like this is not a reality for most teachers. However, I think that creating your own smaller network is an achievable reality for myself.
I feel like one of the biggest tools we have to develop our skills in anything these days is social media. You really can learn anything if you search the web enough. I even taught myself how to play guitar by watching YouTube videos. If there is a an ICT skill or educational practice worth knowing, someone has probably posted a link with more information about it on Twitter, made a video demo or tutorial on YouTube, or posted samples on Pinterest. Without knowing anyone or talking to a live person face to face, you can learn so much from just independent research. Following people over social media is a straight forward process and it is easy to ask questions to people as well by sending a Direct Message over the apps.
It is a pretty widely known fact that many new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. However, what is interesting is that some of the primary reasons for this exodus are a) the isolating nature of the profession and b) the lack of a social network to support personal and professional growth. David J. Sciuto completed a study in 2017 on education and PLN’s. Sciuto explores the impact of using Web 2.0 technologies to build community. His paper is quite long (and I have provided a link down below if you want to read the whole thing), but in his research, he uncovers two basic findings:
- Technology needs to be used not only for teaching, but also for ongoing professional development to build networks, collaborate, and learn with other professionals.
- Teachers need enough time and resources to use technology effectively.
Sciuto makes several recommendations at the end of his study that are not realistically going to happen in any public school. He mentions things like changing the daily schedule to have Pro-D time for teachers, and changing the school hiring and training model to include tech professionals, Knowing that these changes are unlikely to happen, it is largely up to us to look for and engage in our own PLN’s.
One recommendation that he makes that we can do is hold what he calls “hybrid” events where we meet face to face with our online collaborators every now and then.
Taking this course, the groundwork for our own PLN’s have already been laid. We have access to everyone’s twitter and blogs and as long as we stay active and engage with each other, the network will stay alive. Honestly, I know that it is tough for most people to do this. We are all working full time, as well as taking this program and keeping up with everything is not easy. The network itself has enough people so that everyone doesn’t have to post something new everyday. But I think if we just post or comment every now and then when we find something interesting, it could be a tremendous help to the entire network.
Works Cited
E. (2012, March 14). Singapore’s 21st-Century Teaching Strategies (Education Everywhere Series). Retrieved June 2, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_pIK7ghGw4
Edcamp. (n.d.). Retrieved June 2, 2018, from https://www.pinterest.com/edutopia/edcamp/
Sciuto, D. J. (2017). Building connective capital and personal learning networks through online professional development communities for new teachers (Order No. 10592617). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1895109254). Retrieved from http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/docview/1895109254?accountid=14656
I agree with you that technology changes quickly and with so many demands on our time it is hard to juggle our pro-d priorities! I appreciate your embedded links and video. I am interested in spending some more time investigating Sciuto’s work. I am glad you recognize the benefits of the PLN foundation we are building with this course. Thanks for organizing your post using tags and sharing your work on Twitter.
I agree that it is hard to balance all the things you need to do for PD as a teacher when there are only six PD days per year. Many teachers end up doing more PD on their own time.
One of the advantages of online learning networks are that they are ongoing and not ‘one-off’ PD, and this is a much better way of doing PD.
I have really enjoyed joining webinar series as part of my PD. Typically the material is in manageable chunks, maybe an hour each time, and they are normally recorded, so that if you can’t make it live, you can catch up later. Some are then linked to ongoing discussion on social media or a forum, which add to the ongoing learning component.
You highlight some of the key ICT challenges for teachers: keeping up with technology that becomes outdated so rapidly and stretching limited pro d time to meet ICT and other needs. I appreciate your advice to set realistic goals and to use social media as a way to learn. I am interested in the term “technology infused” school and what this could mean and look like.
I appreciate your comments about technology changing so rapidly and the challenge balancing technology learning with other pro d needs. Your advice to set realistic goals and to use social media as a tool for learning is also helpful.