PD for Technology Integration: Best Practices

Significant and long‐lasting changes occur when a school’s “policies, practices, culture, and funding” are structured to facilitate the integration of educational technology. The distributed leadership model is a way to continue supporting teacher leaders and implement shifts in teaching strategies.   Continue reading PD for Technology Integration: Best Practices

Systems Framework for Digital Environments

While studying the needs of teacher professional development in a digital age, I wondered what is the optimal way in which to promote digital age best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment. One knows the school leadership establishes the goals and develops the process that supports and sustains the environment that allows teachers to innovate classrooms with digital learning. Considering this, how can administrators increase and promote digital learning in the classroom and school. Continue reading Systems Framework for Digital Environments

Professional Development in a Digital Age

Computer science education has shifted its focus to improving human-computer interaction(HCI) to improve student learning. The invention of new technologies like “Blocky” programming, allows us to move beyond teaching computer interfaces– to improving comprehension and knowledge. Through the adding of tools that adapt to learners abilities and choices, technology designs are making it easier to use learner centered instructional strategies by supporting the integration of scaffolding, modeling and additional tools. Continue reading Professional Development in a Digital Age

Adult Professional Development

In the Educational Leadership journal of February 2009, Jason Margolis writes about strategies that teacher leaders can embed to engage their colleagues and realize the benefits of instructional changes. While there were a number of presentations reviewed, the strategies below produced “observable teacher engagement”. The one constant in these researches is that teachers value the knowledge, innovation and leadership of their peers. Continue reading Adult Professional Development

Technology embedded Professional Development


Technology can bring benefits to the classroom, and can be used to provide authentic learning activities. One way to help educators is to show them how to effectively use technology in their classroom, in the same way as we would our students, in authentic learning activities that are integrated as part of professional development. Increasing the effectiveness of professional development with authentic learning, integrating technology has the potential of increasing teacher performance.
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Laying the Foundation

In researching what resources are available for coaches to co-planning learning activities that help learning partners improve, it was clear that we first need to build the foundation. The entire Educational Leadership publication in October 2011 was about implementing and growing the culture and leadership skills needed to make technology integration possible. The publication has resources to help technology coaches experience positive collaborations and productive relationships through co-planning learning activities.
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Career and Future Ready: 21st Century Learning

21st-century-learning

The Partnership for 21st Learning created a framework for educators that provides a “…unified vision for learning to ensure student success in a world where change is constant and learning never stops”.
There are key subjects areas that include English, reading or language arts, world languages, arts, mathematics, economics, science, geography, history, government and civics. Continue reading Career and Future Ready: 21st Century Learning

Working Toward a Collaborative Culture

The schools who embrace peer coaching are those who value collaboration as a way to improve teaching practices and student outcomes. By effectively working together through communication and collaboration they improve instructional practices. Trust among peers is an important piece to successfully have those conversations about professional learning experiences and teacher growth. Peer coaching helps teachers integrate technology and improve instruction through reflection on measured student outcomes. Peer coaching can be a role of the servant-leader who strives to build up and support the school community. Continue reading Working Toward a Collaborative Culture