Feeding The Need

It was interesting to the survey the teachers concerning their professional development with technology and getting to know their ICT needs. Results revealed that out of the 25 teachers we surveyed with my colleagues the following where their needs for a successful Professional development.

They cited luck of;

1. Funds to go for training in Professional development with technology.

2. Technology integration in the curriculum.

3.Adequate computers and access to internet.

4. Core technology competencies and computer skills and not aware of the existing technologies and their use in the professional development.

5.  Sufficient Time to prepare technology based instructional materials.

I will address my recommendations to three parties that I feel are a hinge  of professional

development plan with technology in a school setting to help solve the above needs.

·         Administrators

·         The Technology Planning committee

·          The Teacher.

To The Administrators

·         Ensure that the technology plan includes professional development as a major       component.

·     Pursue strategies for obtaining and sustaining funding to provide the necessary technology, professional development, technical support, equipment upgrades, and equipment maintenance to achieve educational goals.

·         Use a variety of incentives and requirements to motivate teachers to participate in professional development activities designed to help them integrate technology into their classrooms. Offer technology for classroom or personal use as an incentive to participation.

·         Demonstrate support for and leadership of ongoing inquiry-driven professional development for technology use.

·         Address any problems that arise with new uses of technology in the classroom quickly and efficiently.

·         Recognize teacher successes with technology. Share these stories with the school and the community. Encourage teachers to share their successes with colleagues at conferences.

To The Technology planning committee.

·         Focus on building a knowledge base about teaching and learning with technology to ensure that technology planning, decision making, and professional development are based on research.

·          Ensure that the educational goals for technology are aligned with school or government goals for student learning and that professional development supports those goals.

·         Recommend the purchase of specific technologies to achieve the identified learning goals.

·         Continue identifying professional development resources and opportunities relating to technology use for school staff.

·         Clearly specify the intended outcomes of the technology professional development. Develop a plan for evaluating the success of professional development activities using various assessment tools and strategies.

To The Teacher.

·         Seek to know from colleagues that have gained some knowledge about ICT like those that have been trained by  CCTI Online .org.

·         Develop an individual professional development plan that provides for acquisition of technology skills and integration of technology into classroom projects.

·         Visit other schools and classrooms to see how technology has been integrated effectively into the curriculum. Or virtually visit classrooms by viewing CD-ROMs, videotapes of technology use in schools, or Internet sites relating to technology integration in content areas.

·         Join social Media’s networks like Twitter, Facebook and develop a PLN, to become part of a community of teachers. Form peer groups across schools, and join subject-matter networks and collaborative to communicate about technology.

·         Sacrifice time and money for technology.

MY JOUNERY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WITH TECHNOLOGY

My Journey has been filled with a lot of achievements towards my professional development and I am confident to say that I am not the same teacher I used to be before I started undergoing professional development with ICT driven by CCTI Online.  

I have been able to know the benefits of technology integration in the curriculum, its challenges and through what I have gained I have learnt how best I can use technology to enhance learning and also how to help my colleagues to move in the same path. The positive impact of collaboration with colleagues has helped me learnt a lot of new things. Imagine in the short time of being trained I now have a personal YouTube channel and I am aware of how useful YouTube is to my professional development. I have also been able to connect with useful people that can help me professionally and my PLN is growing through twitter, Google+ which is bright ray that shows the direction of where I am going.

The curator site /blog is another achievement that I am proud of. Now I can curate important useful resources for others to consume.

With this I feel I have got some strategies that can help deal with the challenges facing professional development with technology. And the victory over these challenges is make a step towards professional development with ICT, you may never step back , you will gain the courage to move on because  Professional development with technology is not an event but a process.