The Proficiency Subcommittee had our first meeting today and talked about many topics relating to increasing teacher technology proficiency. We reviewed our own technology survey and analysis from the past two years. What we would like to see increased towards the agree/strongly agree is the statement “Having Laptops in class has changed the way I teach” or more generally “Having technology in class has changed the way I teach” to adapt to all grade levels.
Sue reviewed with us the Technology Academy structure at her school. Teachers applied to be a part of a three year commitment for technology development and were rewarded with hardware and/or salary lane change for completing the course. Other schools have incorporated hardware purchasing into professional development where teacher would research and write lesson plans with a certain piece of hardware/software in mind and upon completion would be supported by district funds to purchase what they needed – for example a SmartBoard.
We reviewed the Irving ISD tech plan Professional Development section – we liked the district wide teacher portfolio idea – where teachers would be required to submit a few “techfusion” lesson plans each year. Other teachers could then look at the database to acquire new ideas. Evaluation of these submitted projects still needs to be discussed.
To dig deeper we are going to create an online survey and speak with each team of teachers. Both of these data acquisition methods will be based around ideas from an “Exemplary Technology Integration Survey” found in the Journal of Computing and Teacher Education vol23/2 Winter 06-07. Although last year’s survey has some similar data it did not survey the K-4 faculty.
We will also adapt each of the enGauge Indicators into a simple question so we can truly collect where the district is at in regards to the enGauge levels. This will be modeled after the question in the JCTE survey “Rate your current level of computer proficiency”. Jen is going to compose the questions for “Planning and Design” and “Implementation”, Sue will compose “Assessment” and “Professional Productivity” and I will compose “Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues” and create the survey in surveyMonkey.
Jen and I will meet with each team of teachers to discuss the open ended questions from the JCTE survey. Sue will organize the data when finished.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 30th at 3:30pm in my office at Marie Murphy.
It sounds like you had an excellent meeting. I really like the idea about a portfolio filled with new tech infusion ideas. I am generally not a big fan of “incentives” such as hardware or class credit. It think for the future, in the evolution of tech infusion in schools, we need to move beyond the “if we build it, they will come” mentality. This is simply not optional anymore- we must prepare our children for the future. The challenge of this committee is to set high standards for staff training and skills, without teachers feeling put upon or dictated to. I know this sounds contradictory, but the truly innovative schools have found a way to blend these concepts. I think the secret is to combine high expectations with a plethora of options for staff- all differentiated for their specific skill level. Great start. Good luck.
Joe