Technology Teacher Training Website
The educational need I addressed was providing staff training for my fellow elementary staff members. I offer weekly training opportunities on a variety of topics open to any of the 20 teaching staff members in my building. Our district and PTO have generously purchased software and hardware technology items for teachers to use in our classrooms and computer lab. Unfortunately, in order to get them to teachers quickly training did not accompany these items. SMARTboards, document cameras, laptops, and enrichment software is available, but each staff member has a different comfort level with using it. I am providing concise training opportunities targeted to meet the needs of individual teachers in my building. I want to ensure these tools do not sit around collecting dust or cause unnecessary stress and frustration. Especially given that the state of Michigan has adopted the Common Core State Standards and beginning in the spring of 2015 students will be taking standardized tests using a computer. I want to ensure teachers are comfortable teaching their students how to use technology for learning.
I host Technology Tuesday training sessions each week in the school’s computer lab. Each week will focus on a different topic based on survey data I gathered from teachers prior to implementation. I ask teachers to submit questions to me prior to the training so I can specifically address their needs. I follow-up with each of the teachers who attend the session about a week after it takes place to see how implementation is going and answer any other questions they have. I create screencasts of the trainings and post them to a website so teachers unable to attend the session still have access to the information. I have a blog on my website for feedback and any questions they have. This allows me to walk teachers through the process of using the tools step by step and is a great visual. Establishing a website has allowed teachers to go back and review things after a training session, so they do not feel overwhelmed when learning new things. I am also experimenting with using exit surveys to help me gather feedback on the effectiveness of my training sessions.
Staff members I have worked with so far have really appreciated the resources being gathered and presented in a down-to-earth way. They also appreciate having someone in the building to help them trouble-shoot instead of having to call in an outside consultant. I plan on hosting these weekly training sessions for the remainder of the school year to continue to develop strong technology integration skills for all teachers in the building. If these trainings continue to go well I am considering expanding and inviting teachers from our district’s other elementary buildings. Additionally, I have asked staff members who participated in the trainings to share with me photos or artifacts from student projects completed in their classrooms.
I used Google to search for articles and resources associated with my topic. I have always personally been interested in incorporating technology into the curriculum I teach. Therefore, I have many websites bookmarked that have helped me teach myself how to use various technology resources. One of my favorite sites is a wiki listing cool Web 2.0 tools that are free for teachers to use in the classroom. This is a site I have used personally and I believe other teachers in my building would enjoy using it. I also love the revised Bloom's graph for technology applications provided by Kathy Schrock on her technology guide website. I want to show teachers that they can enhance their CURRENT curriculum using technology in a way that will make it engaging for students, but not overwhelming for teachers. Another great resources for teachers is the 21 Things for the 21st Century Educator website. The tools teachers need to be successful with technology integration are available, but finding them can be time consuming. I am hoping that by creating a website where multiple sources of information are available will help encourage teachers to use more types of technology in their classrooms. A final web-based resources is the 4Teachers page about using technology.
In searching for articles I came across a powerful video entitled "Pay Attention" that uses data and quotes from students to convey the importance of utilizing student's knowledge about technology in the classroom instead of asking them to 'power down' when they enter school. In addition, I read several articles about how to effectively prepare teachers to use technology in the classroom. The line from James Efaw's article that sums up my project is "The first key is to develop a faculty's comfort level with technology." That is exaclty what I am hoping to accomplish with my training sessions. Another common theme with the articles was the recommendation of peer training. Just as students sometimes learn best from each other, teachers also benefit from seeing successful examples of how other teachers have used technology in their rooms. I am hoping that by sharing my experiences and resources more teachers will feel confident trying projects in their classrooms.
During each training session I show the basic features of the technology, give teachers time to explore and create a resource for their classroom, and finally answer any questions they have. I chose to use Weebly for education to create a website where I share resources, videos, and information about technology resources available. This website supplements my in-person weekly sessions held in our school computer lab. Using a website allows all staff members with the address equal access to the information. I record and store all information that was discussed so those who were unable to attend the face-to-face session still have access to the information. I am using Jing to record 5 minute video tutorials on how to use key features of the highlighted web 2.0 tools. These videos allow my colleagues the ability to work at their own pace and serve as a refresher for tips and tricks they may have forgotten.
As the creator of the website I can focus the content specifically for the needs of the staff members in my building. I create videos to answer their questions and provide support. The video component allows for review of the content many days or weeks later if a refresher is needed. It is very important to me that the website appear straightforward (clearly labeled with links) and easy to use (not too much information in one spot). This is meant to help build comfort and confidence for staff members in showing them these technology tools provided by our district are easy for teachers to use and good for student learning. One website saves teachers time in searching for answers to their questions and resources to use in their classroom. The website is meant to be a one-stop shopping experience for teachers interested in using technology more effectively in their classrooms with students. Based on the feedback I receive from staff members from the trainings to be held in the coming weeks I will be choosing topics for future trainings to take throughout the rest of the school year.
While it is impossible to avoid all scheduling conflicts, hosting the trainings sessions consistently every week has allowed many teachers to attend. For those unable to attend, the content is available on the website. I am also using online surveys to gauge the effectiveness of my training sessions by gathering data from those that attend. During our weekly training opportunities I provide a brief overview of our focus technology and then give teachers time to explore and create a resource or tool to use with their individual students. I am circulating and answering questions while they have time to explore and create. Teachers are experiencing the content at their level in a small group setting where they have the opportunity to ask questions. The focus of the training is to help them understand how to use the technology, how to engage students, and how to review data they collect. I have discovered that for many staff members this is the first time they have been shown how to use these online tools since they were issued a password. Being shown the useful features of these tools by a fellow teacher ensures they have the comfort level and background needed to being applying the technology to use in their classrooms. I like the idea of offering incentives for teachers who attend the training sessions, but I have yet to secure funding for purchasing and providing those materials.
I have had the opportunity to implement four technology training sessions with staff members in our elementary building. So far, 8 teachers have been able to attend the face-to-face trainings and 5 others have benefitted from the website. I have learned a lot from these experiences that will inform future training sessions. I am surprised how much background knowledge I take for granted when using technology having grown up using computers frequently since high school. I have gained a deeper understanding for how to use technology by taking the time to really break it down and explain it to others. I have been surprised by the enthusiasm I have received and I am glad teachers have attended my sessions. Unexpected snags included running out of data storage space to upload videos to the first website I created. I solved the problem by subscribing to a Weebly Pro account, and have since learned that I can store the videos on a separate server and embed them to the website! I also underestimated in the beginning how basic the tutorials would need to be to start. I am optimistic though that I will be able to build on this strong foundation for the rest of the school year. I think attendance might be a little bit higher if these sessions were offered during professional development time or at a staff meeting instead of being beyond our contractual time. I am delighted that I have been able to help teachers create class assignments, create class websites, capture screencasts, and bookmark links to use with their class. Things that I learned to do long ago and take for granted I am now able to share with others and help them save some time. I am excited to continue working with staff members and I feel I have built closer relationships with several staff members in my building through this process.
I have enjoyed creating and maintaining the Weebly website I created. I look forward to the weekly sessions because it is my opportunity to share resources and showcase my learning in my graduate classes. I am getting very proficient at creating multiple Jing videos each week and uploading them as tutorials. I truly enjoy working with my colleagues as individuals and seeing the delighted looks on their faces when things actually work and it isn’t as hard as they thought it would be!
The original problem of practice I identified was
a lack of training for teachers in my district so they are able to effectively
use the technology tools provided. I am working to increase their knowledge,
confidence, and ideas for incorporating technology into their planning and for
use with their students. There have been several success stories from the
training sessions I have implemented so far. Two teachers have established
classroom websites to share with students and parents. Several others have designed
differentiated instruction to use with their students during their weekly
computer lab times to help them gather data and track student progress.
Finally, two teachers in the building are now comfortable enough with the
toolbar and features of their SMARTboards to use it effectively for daily
instruction.
Tackling this project has taught me a lot. I have
realized the importance of having a clear timeline for events and setting aside
time to develop each component. For another project I would again use surveys
to gather data about my intended audience in order to provide information that
fits their needs. Time has been the biggest constraint for my implementation
the variety of schedules and asking teachers to add one more thing to their
plate has limited the extent to which some of my colleagues can participate.
Using a website to post information has been helpful, but planning ahead to
block time during a professional development day might be a more effective way
to reach a larger audience. I have learned I cannot plan to share too
much information in one session because I can overwhelm my audience. I am
planning to continue the training session and think it would be beneficial to partner
up with a colleague in my building interested in helping with the training. As corny as it sounds, two heads are better
than one!
