Professional Development Plan

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Overview: Conemaugh Township Area School District is a small rural school district in northern Somerset County. Currently serving 985 students and staffed by 147 individuals, Conemaugh Township is going through a period of transition. Due to declining enrollment and a lack of funds, the primary school is closing over this summer. The former Jr./Sr. high school will now house grades 6-12 and be called the Conemaugh Township Middle School/Jr. and Sr. High School. The former intermediate school will now house grades k-5. In this school disctrict¶s recent history, there have been zero surveys of teacher technology use or skills. Technology growth has not been a focal point, leading to a complete lack of hard data to drive an implementation plan. The Jr./Sr. High school has 3 computer labs, digital projectors connected to teacher stations in each room, two departments worth of SmartBoards (math and science), 20 COW carts (stocked with laptops) and several Elmo document cameras. All teachers are competent at sending/receiving email, maintaining records through the school¶s classroom management system, and produce files via a word processor. Abilities beyond this list of skills vary dramatically. Both the amount of equipment and knowledge of usage are very unevenly distributed amongst the staff, with no technology coach or educational technologist to offer support. The only staffed professional with technological experience is the network manager, whose services are spread between the two schools. At the previous intermediate school (soon to be elementary school), there are 5 COWs, a digital projector for every teacher, 2 SmartBoards, 2 response systems, and 1 computer lab. This past year, there was several instances where bandwidth was a serious problem. Teachers at this school feel similar to the teachers at the high school regarding technology. Due to an inequity amongst both the staff¶s technology availability and skills, there has been little training on how to use any of the items purchased by the district. Many of the teachers complain that they don¶t know how to incorporate these tools into their teaching, and don¶t know who to go to with questions. Another common complaint is that there is no individual that is trained in both education and technology to ask for assistance in the integration and application of technology within a lesson. These frustrations have lead minimized usage of the tools.

Goals: General Competencies: 1. The district¶s teachers technology skills and habits will be documented via a survey.

2. Teachers will be able to conduct internet searches. 3. Teachers will be able to utilize word processing, spreadsheet, and hypermedia software. 4. Teachers will be able to use Internet Explorer to navigate the web. Classroom Devices: 1. Teachers with a SmartBoard will be able to create NoteBook files with hyperlinks, embedded video, and pictures from files. 2. Teachers with a SmartBoard will be able to troubleshoot common problems regarding their SmartBoard. 3. Teachers with a document camera will be able to display their camera through their digital projector. 4. Teachers with a document camera will be able to list common classroom uses for the tool. 5. Teachers with a COW will be able to schedule power-ups to extend battery life. 6. Teachers with a COW will be able to list common classroom uses for the tool. Internet Tools: 1. Teachers will be able to upload files (in an appropriate format) to the school¶s CMS. 2. Teachers will be able to utilize vusafe to stream video from the web. 3. Teachers will be able to list an example of a blog, wiki, social networking site, and collaborative document site that could be used in the classroom. 4. Teachers will be able to create a lesson utilizing one of these web 2.0 tools in their context.

Rationale: In the Conemaugh Township Area School District¶s Belief Statement, ³Students must be equipped to live in a rapidly changing technological society´ is listed as a major belief. Currently, less than 5% of the teachers are using a web 2.0 tool in any of their lessons. This world has evolved into a web 2.0 driven society. Students must develop some basic understandings of how to use these tools, what are and are not appropriate usages of them, what to expect in a college setting that does utilize these tools, and how to work collaboratively using these tools.

It would be impossible, however, to simply throw web 2.0 tools in the faces of teachers who are not ready. This is why basic competencies must be achieved by all teachers, to ensure a smooth transition into a school that utilizes the available tools. Once these competencies are reached, some attention must be paid to the devices that the school has invested a lot of money in, and has had little return. The teachers must be segregated into what tools are available to them, and taught how to successfully implement the tools into their classroom. Otherwise, thousands of dollars are hanging on the wall and not taken advantage of. Lastly, once teachers understand how to use the tools available to them, they then can be instructed on how to successfully incorporate web 2.0 tools into their classroom. This will be essential to fulfilling the goal statement ³Develop and implement technology programs that challenge all students with the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a rapidly changing technological society.´

Integration Philosophy: The philosophy of this plan is to establish a standard for teacher technology understanding at Conemaugh Township. With the amount of variability in the skills, effective development will never occur. By establishing a level of expectation, the group of teachers as a whole can move forward. Once this level of expectation is established, then teachers need to gain an understanding of the potential for the tools that they already have at their fingertips. The training on items like the SmartBoards, COWs, and Elmos should not simply focus on the simplistic ³this is how you turn it on´ type of directions, but instead something like ³this is how you enhance your lessons with it.´ Teachers in this district need to appreciate the possibilities for the tools that they have neglected due to frustration with the technological state that the district is currently in. Only after a level of expectations is reached, along with an understanding of how to use the tools in each individual classroom, teachers need put themselves out of their comfort zone and embrace web 2.0 tools as the future of education. This should not be a basic list of what is available on the net, but instead programs that show examples of how these web 2.0 tools can enhance understanding, collaboration, and productivity amongst students. This plan will begin implementation for the 2011-2012 school year. The first half of the year will be devoted to accomplishing the level of expectations and understanding of tools available. The second half of the year will be spent on gaining an understanding of web 2.0 tools, the availability of them, their use in the classroom, and content-specific usages for the

tools. This will be accomplished with the expectation that these tools will begin to be used in lessons in the following 2012-2013 school year.

Student Benefits: The current situation that the district finds itself in dramatically hurts the students. The majority of the teachers in this district are teaching in a very similar manner to the way that they learned 20+ years ago. SmartBoards are being used the same way chalk boards were used, computers are only being used for drill and skill practice or word processing, and the students are not only board, but not being challenged technologically. By having teachers that exhibit a level of technology understanding, students will gain appreciation for the importance of the tools. Successful modeling of use will influence the students. Then, as teachers begin to use the tools in their classroom to their fullest potential, students will gain so much from the lessons. These lessons will be more interactive, engaging, and effective, with the use of more visuals, interactive software, and supporting evidence. Lastly, the students will greatly benefit from the incorporation of web 2.0 tools. Many of these students are already using these types of tools at home, with no training on appropriate use. The integration of them into the classroom will show the potential benefits from each of the tools, within a more professional context. Students will be able to collaborate better, research more efficiently, and produce a product with a deeper understanding using these tools.

Learning Experience: The first goal of the plan is to establish a standard for technology competencies. This will include browsing the web via Internet Explorer 8, conducting internet searches through Google, and create documents using the Microsoft Office Suite. While it is unreasonable to expect complete mastery of every aspect of these pieces of software, a general understanding of each is obtainable. Once the general competencies are reached, the teachers will begin training on the specific items that are available in their room. If the teacher has a SmartBoard, they¶ll focus on how to use hyperlinks, embed video, and record presentations with the SmartBoard software. If they only have a digital projector, they¶ll learn how to insert hyperlinks, embedded video, and print handouts using PowerPoint. If they have an elmo, they¶ll learn appropriate uses for it, how to save an image, and how to record using the Elmo software. The last phase of the plan will incorporate web 2.0 tools. Here, teachers will learn how to create a blog on blogger, maintain an educational social network on Edmodo, and collaborate on

documents using Google Docs. After having the opportunity to play with these various tools, they will learn about educational aspects and implications of the uses.

Implementation Plan: The following is a list of activities that will accomplish the outlined plan. These activities will be run by the district¶s technology coach. Date 8/25 8/26 Type of Day Full Inservice Full In-service Activity Technology Survey Computer Basic Workshop (1/2 day) Microsoft Office Workshop (1/2 day) Browsing Internet Basics (2-hour) Class Specific Workshop (SmartBoard) (2 hours) Class Specific Workshop (Elmo) (2 hours) Class Specific Workshop (Digital Projector) (2 hours) Scheduled 1 on 1 with Technology Coach (30 minutes) Web 2.0 Workshop (Blogger) (2 hour) Web 2.0 Workshop (Edmodo) (2 hour) Web 2.0 Workshop (Google Docs) (2 hour) Time to try out tools and ask tech coach questions (2 hour) Web 2.0 Summary on Educational Uses (2 hour) Deeper Exploration of Web 2.0 Tools (5 4 Who Is Included All staff Staff scoring low on survey Staff scoring low on survey Staff scoring low on survey Staff with a SmartBoard

9/22 10/10

2-hour Delay Act 80 Full In-service

Staff with an Elmo

Staff without a SmartBoard All staff

11/10

Parent Conference Day 2-hour Delay Act 80 Full In-service

12/6 2/20

All staff All staff All staff

3/1

2-hour Delay Act 80

All staff

5/3

2-hour Delay Act 80

All staff

6/11-6/15

Summer Sessions

Interested Staff

hour sessions) As all of this is occurring, the technology coach will maintain a blog where teachers can go and ask questions. This will allow for all teachers to see what is working for who, who has asked what, and potential solutions to frequent problems.

Budget: Since all workshops planned are during contractual hours, the staff will not have to be compensated. This will save the district the majority of the potential costs. The web 2.0 workshops will require no costs because the sites selected are completely free. The true costs will be the compensation for the technology coach and the summer sessions. The technology coach will need to be hired, with a stipend of $5000. This position will be responsible for more than just this technology plan, including daily assistance for teachers in regards to technology integration and application issues and planning for future growth in the technology field. The technology coach will be compensated $21/hour spent outside of contracted hours on the blog. The planning of the workshops during the school year will fall under the technology coach¶s duties, and thus no further compensation is required. The teachers that attend the summer sessions will also be compensated at the curriculum rate of $21/hour.

Evaluation: The evaluation of this plan will be done through several different sources. First, all of the teachers that take part in any of the workshops will be given a survey to indicate the benefits and drawbacks of the workshop. These surveys will help modify future workshops within the district. The second form of evaluation will be done through the blog. This way all teachers (including the tech coach) can communicate regarding technology issues in the classroom/district, without being confined to a specific time/place. The third form of evaluation will be done through direct observations of usage the following year. The entire staff will be instructed to implement a web 2.0 tool in at least one lesson the following year (which they will begin to construct during the workshops). They will be asked to inform the technology coach when this (or one of these) lesson(s) will be taught the following year. The tech coach will then observe the teacher using the tools.

The final form of evaluation will be done through usage reports of the staff members regarding web 2.0 sites. This will allow the district to see what teachers are using what tools and to what degree they¶re used. This will help find teachers that are comfortable with the tools, and can help the technology coach train the teachers that are using the tools less.

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