Technology Support & Professional Development F06
This course will examine professional development and technology support systems that lead to high-quality teacher learning environments that in turn facilitate classroom and school uses of technology.
Class sessions will occur online; activities will include presentations, discussions, and collaborative work. Thus, participation is critical to this course, as is completing the assigned readings and discussing issues relating to them.
Registered students should click on a View This Class Session link to see that class meeting's content and related assignments. Use the Syllabus and, if registered, Course Calendar and Classmates links above to view course events and due dates, and a roster of other students in this course.
Session 1: Quality Technology Support
This session provides an overview of the course and its three main aspects of technology support will be provided: managed access, professional development, and professional community.
Session 2: Ready Access to Supported, Managed Technology
This session examines the technical aspect of quality technology support, but also other important aspects of having "stuff" that works. Namely, the level of access to it, and its management. While principals and tech coordinators take primary responsibility for creating this, teachers must take responsibility for advocating for it, and providing feedback about its quality.
Session 3: Professional Development
This session examines professional development standards, designs and expected outcomes. We also examine the systemic factors, such as school culture and leadership, that contribute to it.
Session 4: Professional Community
This session focuses on how professional community among teachers in a school can enhance technology integration and implementation. Such professional community can be viewed as an informal learning opportunity counterpart to more formal professional development learning opportunities.
Session 5: Roles within Tech Leadership Teams
This session focuses on the non-administrative roles within technology leadership teams, the teacher leaders and technology coordinators. We examine distributed leadership models for insight into how leadership can emanate from both authority and expertise.