Introduction
Currently, I am taking a
graduate course that informs you about educational technology and to integrate
technology into class lessons. At first, I had some fear about the
class. The idea blogging seemed out of
reach for me. However, after
reading articles and participating in class discussions, I realized how essential
it is that schools implement more technology in classrooms as a way to engage
students and to make education relevant to the students. However, how do you
expect teachers to use technology in classrooms if they are not encouraged and
not receiving proper training and yearlong support? Even when
teachers do have workshops, many teachers have a hard time navigating the
tools, mostly due to the lack of support and help. The uses of
professional development workshops in schools are a great idea to help
eliminate many issues involving the use of technology. These workshops will
only work if they are informative and useful.
What are Professional
Development Workshops?
Professional Development
workshops and programs provide many opportunities for the school community to
collaborate and to promote the use of technology in classrooms. Professional
development workshops help educators in learning skills and knowledge attained
for career advancements (102). Schools leaders or school committees usually
conduct the workshops.
What the Workshops
Should Include?
The professional
development workshop should be effective, informative, organized, and
persuasive. Professional development programs are most effective when they are
long term, focused on student learning, and linked to the curriculum (106). The
workshops should be designed in an organized fashion yearlong. They
need to concentrate on why the use of technology is important, how to use the
technology, how to integrate technology into your class lessons (have examples),
and must have time for questions or concerns. In addition, the workshops need to emphasize the
safety precautions that need to be in place before using the internet. Approval from school administrators and
parents are needed. For support, teachers should be given contact information
if they have technical issues or general concerns. It is important that these
programs inspire teachers to implement technology in classrooms. These programs
should also provide teachers with an opportunity to collaborate with their
co-workers (107). School leaders should show teachers respect and
support (107).
The workshop also should
mention ways in how to obtain technology for the school. Schools can apply for
grants, create fundraisers, and apply for programs, etc. School leaders can
increase the school’s budget and provide more funding sources (110).
Concluding Points about
Professional Development Workshops
Schools have to create
effective workshops that are interactive, effective, productive, and
meaningful. The following is a personal experience that I had attending an
ineffective workshop. This past fall, I attended a Professional Development
workshop about the use of the SMARTboard and they gave the teachers a
hundred-page manual about how to use it. First of all, many teachers were
overwhelmed with the thickness of the packet and immediately turned off. In
addition, the instructor of the workshop did not have a visual to show because
her computer was malfunctioning. Basically, the meeting was unproductive and
did not inspire myself or other teachers to use the SMARTboard. As a matter of
fact, the school has SMARTboards sitting in the storage room because most
teachers feel unprepared and don’t know how to use them. An effective workshop
should almost be like a college course. Teachers need to gradually learn how to
incorporate technology in schools. This will alleviate some of the negative
perspectives about using technology in classrooms. The main goal of the workshop
is to inspire and schools to implement technology as much as possible to
prepare students for the 21st century skills world of
technology. These skills include collaboration, communication, technological
skills, critical thinking, and problem solving. These skills
are needed for students to succeed in the 21st century world of
technology.
Check this out:
Resources to setup workshops
