Professional Learning

Tech Tuesday: How to Stop Worrying and Love the Tech

February 20, 2015

One of my duties as STEM coordinator on my campus is to assist teachers in all departments with technology integration. This task has proven more difficult than I had first hoped considering that we are a BYOD school. A quite common and valid complaint among our faculty is the difficulty in finding time for professional development. That is true. I don’t think any of us can complain of having extra time on our hands. My principal suggested the implementation of “Tech Tuesday” professional development sessions. While it is hard to measure the success of the program so far, it is at least sparking conversations about ways that we incorporate the power of student devices into the existing curriculum.

11 Important Lessons from our Early Implementation

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Offer CPE hours - While the rules vary between state and district, it is worth checking to see if some sort of professional development hours can be awarded.

Make it hands-on - I would almost do anything else than sit in a technology session where I am shown a PowerPoint of someone else using a new app. Humans learn by doing. So do!

Time for sharing - We’re teachers. We like to teach. Don’t plan on the planned presentation lasting the entire time. Leave space for others to share what they have been using technology for in the classroom.

Continue the conversation - Just like students, we need to practice something to get good at it. Follow up conversations can keep the ball rolling in between meetings.

This piece was originally submitted to our community forums by a reader. Due to audience interest, we’ve preserved it. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own.