Plan and Deliver

The time has come to craft a technology professional development plan.

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This sort of plan requires special aspects—assessing the technology literacy, usage, and attitudes of the faculty; designing individual educational technology plans for each faculty member; developing and delivering technology professional development programs; and assisting faculty in integrating it into the curricula

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Step back and give people the big picture. The vision of any instructional institution or initiative must outline the strategic, shared thoughts of a learning community. With a continual focus on the mission of the institution, participants must be able to visualize the instructional use of technology. Use the technique of showing what you would envision by employing descriptive and engaging depictions of what you observe

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you can learn a great deal by gathering data in three areas—regarding knowledge (awareness and application), attitude (issues like leadership, professional development, support), and practice (matters of the curriculum, pedagogy).

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it's even more important to get a handle on both the faculty's attitudes about technology use, as well as their practices, in terms of what they actually do.

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n education technology individual development plan (ET-IDP) identifies the specific technology professional development needs of a faculty member.

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When implemented effectively and consistently, ET-IDPs become a cornerstone of a high-performing organization.

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The cycle of technology professional development contains three tenets critical to creating effective improvements. Educators constantly move between the facets of the model, while gaining the techniques and leadership necessary for success in the classroom.

First, at the local level, start by asking yourself and your team: "What are the current productivity and skills training priorities in our district? Our buildings? At various grade levels or departments?" These staff development opportunities help educators understand the benefits of specific tools—both hardware and software—and how to use them.

Next, check with your curriculum design teams and ask the question: "What are the critical areas in immediate need for technology enhancement across grade levels and/or departments?" Find out where areas of concern as related to student achievement are. Establish dialogue with those representatives on how technology may be a catalyst for improvement.

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Teacher quality is the factor that matters most. So professional development for teachers becomes the key issue in using technology to improve the quality of learning in the classroom—where "knowledge" is truly embedded within a structure that effectively integrates educational technologies into our pedagogy and curricula.

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