District Administration - April 2009 - (Page 36)

Classroom Technology Integration learn differently now but that the world they inhabit today is so radically different that educators would be “silly” not to keep up with the changes. But are they? A new report from the National Staff Development Council, Professional Learning in the Learning Profession, basically says no. The researchers say that as a nation we have “failed to leverage professional development to ensure that every educator and every student benefits from highly effective professional learning.” Andrea Prejean, senior policy analyst at the National Education Association, which runs its own online professional development program called the NEA Academy, agrees with the claims laid out in the report but remains optimistic about the future. The findings do not stem from a lack of trying, she says, but perhaps an unsatisfactory implementation of poorly conceived programs. Knezek has doubts about the findings’ veracity. “Over the last five years, if you were to pick a random educator out of a hat, yes, that would probably be true,” he admits. “But there are pockets of schools where that is definitely not the case.” Talk to educators and practitioners knee deep in the practice of improving teaching and learning and you’ll find a nascent pedagogical movement. More than 40 states have adopted standards calling for effective professional development for all educators accountable for results in student learning—with “technology integration” often front and center. And as educators put such standards into action, they are producing profound technology results for themselves and students. Teachers Teaching Teachers The Teacher Leadership Project, a nationally recognized, award-winning professional development model that is used in 18 states by 4,200 teachers, is a prime example of the good work being done in technology-infused teaching. It started in the mid-1990s when the Northwest Educational Service District 36 April 2009 Teachers participate in a session to design an experiment in which they determine the volume of an unknown container, during a professional development summer institute offered by the Teacher Leadership Project. 189 in Anacortes, Wash., passed a large technology bond that allowed the district to put four computers in every classroom. But teachers didn’t exactly give the machines a run for their money. Several teachers were hired as technology coaches and given stipends in exchange for training other teachers how to use an electronic grade book, access “There’s a lot of technology in classrooms,” Firth says, “but not a lot of modeled training on how it can be used to transform education.” So in the summer of 1997, funded by a small grant from the Gates Foundation, a group of 27 educators throughout Washington state gathered to explore how technology could improve student learn- “The whole ‘21st century’ mindset is more than technology itself. It’s the confidence teachers have to effectively use —Monica Beglau, director, eMINTS it in class.” e-mail and the Internet, and save files to the network. But within two years many of the machines were sitting in the backs of classrooms collecting dust. Becky Firth, director of the district’s Technology Leadership Center and one of the former technology coaches, says the skill-based training was done with a “just in case” attitude, not a “just in time” philosophy. Teachers forgot what they’d learned, and enormous energy was spent retraining them again and again. ing—an effort that has since transformed to become the Teacher Leadership Project. The program is designed by educators, for educators. It consists of an intensive summer institute followed by online training sessions and immerses its participants in the training taught by other TLP teachers who have implemented the philosophy in their own classrooms. It has been identified as an exemplary professional development model and adopted by other organizations, and a three-day version, District Administration

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2009

District Administration - April 2009
Contents
From the Editor
Letters
News Update
Assessment
Conversations
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Education’s Shot in the Arm
Lessons Learned from Columbine’s 10th Anniversary
An Interview with Columbine’s Superintendent, Cynthia Stevenson
Keeping Track of Technology
Classroom Technology Integration
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Professional Opinion
Research Center
New Products
Product Focus
Online Edge

District Administration - April 2009