There’s a time and place for one-off professional development sessions. If you’re looking for a more engaging alternative, this tech leader recommends cohort-based models.
At the Richardson Independent School District in Texas, professional development emphasizes one-on-one collaboration between teachers, Director of Instructional Technology Morgan Cave says.
Each year, roughly 25 teachers participate in a year-long, intensive professional learning program that focuses on individualized, targeted support. Cave says teachers are challenged to rethink their pedagogy and leverage technology to “enhance, engage, and extend” learning.
Teachers spend every session with a technology specialist.Educators develop deep relationships with their technology teams, closing the gap that exists in many other districts.
Most participants eventually earn leadership roles, such as assistant principal or instructional coach.
“I was just emailing one who’s now an assistant principal, and it’s great for us because she understands what’s possible,” Cave says. “She understands the vision. She’s very willing to schedule the specialist who works with her campus to come in and coach teachers.”
This district overhauled PDat the height of the pandemic. Cave joined the technology team in 2017, and there was immense pressure to support teachers after a one-to-one device rollout.
“We were going to every campus three times a year and we’d deliver the exact same thing to every teacher,” she explains. “We did it eight times a day during their planning period. Then we’d go to the next school and do it again.”
Maintaining enthusiasm was a struggle, she adds. At the time, the program’s impact was stagnating, considering teachers would ask the same questions year after year.
By 2020, students and teachers were reliant on technologyto support remote learning. Technology specialists began pairing with one teacher from each campus.
“Getting that feedback and personalized support is where we can actually get teachers to rethink their pedagogy and not just try a new tool one time,” she says.
Teachersalso needtime to plan together at the end of their learning sessions. If teachers are leaving with more work to do, leadership is asking too much of their educators, Cave argues.
“Teachers have a full day with us,” she says. “We give them 45 minutes to an hour at the end of the day to plan and leave knowing what to do next.”
The coaching aspect of technology integration is what’s most important. Device refreshes and new edtech tools are wasted when leaders aren’t giving educators the skills to use them.
“Anyone who has ever tried to use a new piece of technology, if you don’t have the support alongside it, it was a waste of an investment,” she says.
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