Hutchinson, A. (2012). Literacy teachers’ perceptions of
professional
development that
increases integration of technology into literacy instruction. Technology, Pedagogy
and Education, 21:1, 37-56, DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2012.659894
Summary
The
focus of this article was on a survey of literacy teachers and their opinion on
the use of technology in the literacy classroom. A majority of the teachers surveyed felt that
professional development for technology integration does not prepare them for
using technology in their classrooms. The
result of the lack of professional development for appropriate implementation
of technology is a barrier to technology integration. The key complaints from teachers about
professional development made available to them were support, time, access and
knowledge. In regards to support
teachers indicated a need for ongoing coaching and individualized help. The
complaint about time was the need for more time to learn, practice and
experiment with the technology. The main
complaint concerning access was not having access to equipment to learn
hands-on during and following the training, and access to additional
resources. Finally, teachers need more
knowledge concerning the technology; namely how to use the technology in their
specific classroom/grade-level and ideas specific to content areas. A greater part of those surveyed expressed a
desire to implement technology but a large part felt they were insufficiently
prepared to do so.
Personal
Reaction
I
chose this article because it struck a chord with me in that my colleagues and
I are currently going through this dilemma.
In May each teacher on our campus will be receiving an iPad for use in
our classrooms. While I believe this is
a wonderful opportunity for my students I know that the 45 minute training the
teachers will be receiving during our conference period will not be enough to
give us ideas on how to integrate them into our lessons or classroom
activities. The four complaints the
teachers in the survey gave are exactly what the teachers in my grade level expressed
concern about. Districts are creating goals of all classrooms integrating technology but they are not preparing their teachers on how to do it. They are throwing the technology at us but not training us on how to use it.
I found this so interesting because I have experienced that feeling; of being overwhelmed with all the training, but not a moment to process what we have just learned in a quick session. I wish the schools would focus on one app/software, etc and give us a good training with hands on practice, then several follow up trainings to troubleshoot any problems. This would make our sessions more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteKrista Ledbetter
I found this interesting because I was in the same boat last year. We were each given an iPad and about an hour training on how to use it. We weren't really given any training on how to effectively use them during instruction time. We did have a district staff development later in the year where a few sessions were classroom teachers sharing with how they have used them and shared some great apps to use. That helped a little, but I still feel like I am not using it to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteI think that you hit the nail on the head Melissa when you said we aren't given any training on how to EFFECTIVELY use them during instruction. I think districts/schools just want to be able to brag about having these resources but do not equip teachers with best practices.
ReplyDeleteIt's ironic that we, the educators, are not given the same opportunity to learn as our students. If we handed our students a "tool", told them how to use it and never offered them the opportunity to practice while we were available to give guidance and support, that would not be tolerated. We are given information on these devices and programs but as we are trying to absorb and understand the information, we are then asked to implement it. It simply is not good business.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 6 years I have been at a school that is desperately lacking in the area of technology.Our principal struggles with technology so it has not been a priority. Although we have Smartboards and are able to connect out computers to the overhead projector, it is our hands, not our students hands that are working the devices. I do find it interesting that you were only given one iPad to use for an entire class. My kids have a hard time seeing the monitor on the desktop and it is much larger.
Thanks for the post and good luck. * remember the Blooms Taxonomy with apps from ETEC 524? That may be a starting point. You can just Google Bloom's Taxonomy app chart for ideas of useful apps. I look forward to seeing how you implement them.