Challenging Assumptions about Technology Professional Development

Podcast: Sylvia Martinez
Blog: http://blog.genyes.com
http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=183

Technology often requires changes in the way classrooms are managed. There are many assumptions in regards to professional development for teachers: Teachers are lacking technology professional development; Professional development for teachers must take place outside the classroom; Most teachers have participated in multiple professional development activities in the last year, and yet more than 80 percent say they needed more training on how to integrate it into their curriculum. Professional development inside the classroom seems to always be dismissed. Teachers need to have some sort of activity inside the classroom where the teacher is learning at the same time as the kids are. Teachers will then never be put in the situation where they are limited to teaching only what they were taught to do when they were in school.

Student-teacher interaction can serve to support teacher use of technology. A constructivist classroom consists of collaborative learning between the students and the teacher. The classroom is actively student-centered, project based. Students have a choice and options in the project they work on. They are democratic; the teacher is not the only source of the knowledge, construction of knowledge is a shared responsibility. They are reflective; students have time to process and discuss their learning with others. They involve risk-taking; mistakes are allowed and looked at as a path to understanding.

Encourage teachers to try new things in front of students. Students need teachers to show them reasons to use technology for appropriate educational purposes. Teachers need students to help them learn technology as a classroom tool. Teachers should learn to embrace technology not just in workshops but also outside of professional development.

I thought this podcast hit it home. Many times teachers need to be adaptive to the classroom. The use of technology in the classroom is one circumstance that teachers cannot always predict the outcome. Especially when you are preparing a work in progress such as a blog or podcast. These types of works are always evolving, and new tools are created almost daily to improve on the creation of such works. I have learned that I do better myself engaging with others sometimes, so it is natural that teachers that engage with students can also learn at the same time.