Hi Marian,

Intro workshops with follow-up training have worked for us in Delaware as well.
We also try to find an advocate for a new type of technology in each local
program.  And if we do a good job of matching an unmet need with an appropriate
piece of technology, we are well on the road to adoption.  

Some devices are wonderfully intuitive and don't require training.  We handed
out Jump Drives at a monthly meeting and found, the next month, that several
people wore them as pendants because they were an essential daily tool.  Other
things, such as data collection software, have required lots of training.  

We have found that supplementary tutorials are really helpful in addressing the
rough spots in technology implementation.  The Camtasia software that I
described yesterday is a good tool for creating these.  Start the computer
program that you want to demonstrate and record the procedure to a file.  If you
can keep each segment down to ten minutes or less, the files will be easy to
distribute and your users will thank you for considering their attention span.

Another area where we have experimented a bit with professional development
content is the Web-based course.  Most of our online adult education courses
make use of a course management system and it seems like it will be a good fit
for PD.  But, of course, it takes a while to develop your own courses.  We have
started this process and hope to make some of them available this year.  I
wonder if there are courses out there that we could borrow?   :^)  Or maybe we
could pay a reasonable fee.

David C.

-----Original Message-----
From: technology-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:technology-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf
Of Marian Thacher
Sent: Thursday, March 02, 2006 12:20 PM
To: The Technology and Literacy Discussion List
Subject: Re: [Technology] Professional development question

My 2 cents: Workshops are good for introducing concepts and ideas; onsite
mentoring, modeling and team teaching are critical for actually integrating new
technologies into teaching. You need someone close by when you are trying out
new things and something goes wrong that you don't know how to fix. Otherwise,
you drop it and it might be a long time before you try again. Some of the
modeling is just the acceptance that things go wrong, and to see problems not as
disasters but as teachable moments. 

I think getting involved with technology taught me to be a better
problem-solver. Snafus are so frequent, you just can't freak out about all of
them. :) I learned this from seeing others model it, not from being told about
it in a workshop. If we can find a way to spend more time in each others'
classrooms, that's a good thing. Both teachers and learners benefit.

Marian

The Technology and Literacy Discussion List <technology at nifl.gov> on Thursday,
March 02, 2006 at 8:46 AM -0800 wrote:

>David, Alex and alll,

>

>I have been thinking about issues of professional development, training 

>and support.

>

>Alex, David and others what type of professional development and 

>training would be beneficial or necessary for teachers with less 

>experience and comfortability with technology and media to be effective 

>using the devices, resources and practices we have been discussing? 

>What would take place in a professional development event titled "Using 

>New and Emergining Technologies in the Adult Literacy Classroom: 101"

>For those comfortable using technology and media with students, how 

>have you become so? What advice would you give instructors for whom 

>this is unknown territory?

>

>What type of ongoing support would help teachers stay connected to 

>innovative practices and new tecnologies?

>

>Regards,

>Mariann

>

>

>

>

>Mariann Fedele

>Coordinator of Professional Development, Literacy Assistance Center 

>Moderator, NIFL Technology and Literacy Discussion List

>32 Broadway 10th Floor

>New York, New York 10004

>212-803-3325

>mariannf at lacnyc.org

>www.lacnyc.org

>

>----------------------------------------------------

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