Technology in Professional Development is Key

Jim Gates is fond of quoting from Camelot: "If you want to be happy, learn something." As a technology trainer for Pennsylvania's Capitol Area Intermediate Unit, Gates spends much of his time trying to help teachers learn a very specific thing: using technology to improve curriculum.

Many of the strategies that Jim Gates uses— incorporating technology into curricula, bringing teachers together at conferences, providing mentors so that technical assistance is always available— are espoused by CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), which monitors the state of educational technology, offers technological advice, presents a vast array of hardware and software products, and provides customer support.

Chris Rother is CDW-G's vice president of education. She sees some recent major shifts in the types of training in technology that currently exist for K-12 teachers and staff:

The biggest shift has been away from regularly scheduled professional development sessions to a just-in-time approach to professional development. With this new approach, teachers regularly communicate with an on-site instructional technology specialist, enabling them to quickly and efficiently address any questions or issues. This is the most effective method to ensure that teachers are constantly engaging and integrating technology. The instructional technology specialist's ongoing assistance and support encourages teachers to try new teaching methods and reinforces material taught during more formal professional development sessions.

This shift to accessible professional development can't be emphasized enough. It's no longer sufficient for teachers to attend a workshop, learn a slew of computer applications, then be expected to use those applications when they return to their classrooms. Educators like Gates are continually making the point that professional development needs to always be accessible and relevant:  Technology is a way to make instruction more engaging; it's not an end in and of itself. Rother points out: "As teachers become more tech-savvy, professional development focuses on the seamless integration of technology into the daily curriculum, rather than on merely how to use technology."

The state of Pennsylvania seems to have adopted this philosophy wholeheartedly. Some examples:

• The Classrooms for the Future Learning Initiative provides teachers with not only teaching tools and notebook computers but also professional development focused on integrating technology into instruction.
• Keystone Technology Integrators are classroom teachers who bring to other classrooms added expertise in content, motivational strategies, and management; they attend a five-day "summit" each year in the summer where they engage in hands-on workshops with topics such as differentiating instruction and teaching in the 21st century.
• The Pennsylvania Inspired Leadership Program is a statewide, standards-based continuing professional education program for school and system leaders. It focuses on developing the capacity of leaders to improve student achievement.
• Getting to One technology grants include Technology Integration Mentors, who "promote data-informed decision making in the classroom, model high-performance technology integration skills to students and teachers, and provide professional development on research-based technology solutions aligned to high-quality differentiated instruction."

And trainers like Jim Gates develop blogs that give information and tips for teachers and, in his case, win awards (2007 Edublog winner for best resource-sharing blog).

Despite the progress in professional development some chronic problems remain. Gates says that everyone is vying for contractual days: Teachers need to write curricula, meet with department heads, and review test scores. And Rother cites Education Week's Quality Counts 2008, an annual report that grades states on educational performance outcomes and policy efforts. According to the report, 41 states have adopted standards for general professional development, but only 24 states finance such professional development across all districts in the state, with only 16 states requiring districts to designate time for professional development.

So there has been considerable progress, but more needs to be done. Once the importance of professional development in technology is acknowledged, funded, and implemented, there's no end to the potential of really meaningful instruction.

Reprinted with permission of THE Journal and CDW Government, Inc., 2008