Technology Professional Development Study

Reference:

http://www.rapidintellect.com/AEQweb/mo2378apr.htm

Review/Summary:

The topic of this blog covers a case study that focused on Technology Professional Development by Dolores T. Burton Ed. D. of the New York Institute of Technology. In this study seventeen fifth grade elementary teachers were involved in research that determined how technology learned in professional development was being put into practice in the classroom. The outcomes of eight of these teachers were examined in this study. Changes observed in these instructors after the training they received in the area of technology became known as the "Phases of Instructional Change." These phases ranged from the reluctance to use technology to the other end of the spectrum which involved a comfortable use of technology by both teachers and students.

These teachers  were placed in small groups or cohorts and in each session of professional development they decided what topic they would like to cover that would allow them to use technology in a variety of ways.  Through these training sessions, themes and projects were created by teachers that were ultimately applied in the classroom and computer labs with their students. For example, the teachers chose a topic that revolved around the United States and a study of the states.  In order to teach this topic with the incorporation of technology, the cohort of teachers decided to have students create a travel brochure incorporating information about the state of their choice. In later sessions, teachers discussed any problems and solutions that they were having in the area of technology.  There was also a session that allowed for the team of staff developers to come into the classroom and help the teacher with lessons incorporating technology.

At the completion of this study through the use of a self-assessment rubric, a proficiency score in the area of computer applications was generated and it was determined that every teacher made improvement in computer applications in nine areas which included such things as graphics, spreadsheets, and assessment.

Reflection:

When I first started teaching in 1998, I was most fearful of my deficiencies in technology use since I did not have a computer and knew very little about many applications and even navigating the internet.  Through professional staff-related training that we received in the area of technology from our on campus technology personnel, I as well as many other teachers became much more comfortable with using technology as well as incorporating what we had learned in the classroom.  We even had the opportunity to visit our teaching peers classrooms and observe how they were integrating the use of technology in their lessons.  This type of staff development has proven to be quite successful in my own experiences as well as for those instructors in the study above.