Professional Development
Professional development means to represent learning activities of all kinds for school staff that prepare them to use technology in the school setting. Included under the term are activities such as the following:
How are training and/or professional development for staff evaluated?
Whether and how schools and districts assess professional development offerings is an important indication of the seriousness with which staff development is considered. Assessment must, however, go beyond a minimal "head count" approach, in which attendance lists or sign-in sheets are used as evidence of program success.
Tailoring evaluation methods to professional development programs makes sense-data on how teachers and administrators progress and how they are using new technologies to promote student achievement give great insight into what technology is doing for schools. By evaluating professional development, technology planners and administrators can learn what is working, and what or who needs help.
Measures of proficiency are discussed in Chapter 7 that could serve as outcome assessments, but such outcome measures are at best indirectly related to professional development inputs.
A list of assessment tools for professional development is provided in the Resources section at the end of this chapter. These are published by individual technology coordinators or planners and school systems; several are online
References:
http://nces.ed.gov/
- familiarization with the operation of equipment and software;
- development of proficiency in the use of the technology "tools" to carry out school tasks;
- the application of software and applications to the management of school activities, whether instructional or administrative; and
- the integration of technology into teaching, learning, and administrative processes.
How are training and/or professional development for staff evaluated?
Whether and how schools and districts assess professional development offerings is an important indication of the seriousness with which staff development is considered. Assessment must, however, go beyond a minimal "head count" approach, in which attendance lists or sign-in sheets are used as evidence of program success.
Tailoring evaluation methods to professional development programs makes sense-data on how teachers and administrators progress and how they are using new technologies to promote student achievement give great insight into what technology is doing for schools. By evaluating professional development, technology planners and administrators can learn what is working, and what or who needs help.
Measures of proficiency are discussed in Chapter 7 that could serve as outcome assessments, but such outcome measures are at best indirectly related to professional development inputs.
A list of assessment tools for professional development is provided in the Resources section at the end of this chapter. These are published by individual technology coordinators or planners and school systems; several are online
References:
http://nces.ed.gov/
