It can be tough to achieve successful technology PD efforts because teachers aren’t completely sold on what you’re trying to do. Try focusing on these simple guidelines to form your plans.
1. Use Fresh, Captivating Content: Spotlight exciting technologies that teachers can use immediately in their classroom to improve student outcomes.
2. Keep it Social: Encourage your team to talk to other teachers from around the world to share ideas for their classes and ensure that learning doesn’t stop when the “PD day” is done. This also allows you to deliver your PD online.
3. Use Real “Teachers”: Use teachers that are tech advocates to explain the instructional benefits, discuss student outcomes and give troubleshooting tips. If they are your own teachers, that’s even better.
4. Mix it Up: Offer a selection of topics and let teachers choose the ones they like. The list doesn’t need to be extremely long, but it should have enough variety to appeal to different learners and various subject areas.
5. Vary the Time Commitment/Delivery Style: Feature short “mandatory” sessions with longer sessions more focused on the topics the teachers are interested in. OR use Blended Professional Development courses - a hybrid of traditional stand-up professional development and online instruction, focused on classroom application.
An effective technology PD program builds excitement and momentum for learning in new ways.
P.D. Tips courtesy of Atomic Learning
