Solving technology hardships

by | Aug 15, 2011 | Team Projects | 0 comments

St. Joseph St. Robert School

Team Members: Fran Cross, Alissa DeVito, Marie Orzechowski
Community: Archdiocese of Philadelphia Year 1, 2010-2011

As we examined the problems and needs of our staff, our team began to notice that our peers felt overwhelmed with integrating technology into the classroom. Teachers were unsure of where to start and how important technology, and digital citizenship, really was to their every day practices. After studying the ISTE NETS standards, we decided to formulate simple, accessible professional development sessions for our peers to help them gain confidence in their own technology skills and use more technology in their classroom.

We focused our project on the ISTE NETS standards 3-5 to help teachers integrate and model technology in the classroom.

– Help our teachers feel less overwhelmed by technology through positive modeling and active support (ISTE NETS Standard 5)

– Give teachers the tools necessary to be an active member of the online community (ISTE NETS Standard 3)

– Define digital citizenship and give teachers the resources to make this apart of their every day practices (ISTE NETS Standard 4)

– January 2011-February 2011 Research concepts, assign group tasks and roles, survey the needs of our staff, develop topics for the professional development sessions.

– Early March 2011 Develop presentations and activities

– Late March 2011-April 2011 Provide 3 after school sessions for our staff, support staff through their exploration and use of technology

– Late April 2011 Send an evaluation survey to staff, continue to provide active support, reflect upon the project and evaluate survey results

– May 2011 Attend the culminating event!

Our staff was amazing during this project. They were enthusiastic, open, and willing to try a variety of technology. 100% of our staff said the sessions helped them to better understand and feel less overwhelmed with technology. Teachers gained understand and therefore, used more technology in the classroom, ranging from the Smartboard, to their own TeacherWeb pages, to exploring and trying interactive Web 2.0 tools.
“Links for Every Teacher” – A compiled list of Web 2.0 Tools applicable to a variety of grades, subjects, and technology “savvy” levels.

Professional Development Presentations: This is a file of all 3 of our professional development presentations. We worked on activities such as using Google Docs and AudioBoo during the sessions. There were three sessions/presentations:

1. Digital Citizenship

2. Web 2.0 Tools

3. Virtual Communication/Social Networking

You can find more information on the team’s wiki page.

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Powerful Learning Practice

CEO at Powerful Learning Practice
Sheryl is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Powerful Learning Practice. She works with schools and districts from around the world helping them to infuse technology into their curriculums and by leading other digital conversion efforts. Sheryl also consults with governments, educational organizations and non-profits in development of their various professional learning initiatives. Sheryl is a sought-after presenter at national and international events, speaking on topics related to digital and online learning, teacher and educational leadership, online community building, and other educational issues impacting children of poverty. Sheryl served on the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Board of Directors for six years. She co-authored The Connected Educator: Learning and Leading in a Digital Age with Lani Ritter Hall. Sheryl has four children and four grandsons, Luke, Logan, Levi and Tanner and a trio of dachshunds. You can find out more on her blog and on Twitter @snbeach.
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