I am very excited. Our union and administration have agreed to pay teachers a sizeable technology proficiency stipend. Now the questions begin.
How do teachers show that they are proficient in the technology we expect them to use? We expect them to use a lot.
Each of our classrooms has the following equipment:
- An Activboard
- A Document Camera
- A ceiling mounted projector
- A teacher computer with Office Professional (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel are expected to be used, OneNote is currently being encouraged)
Teachers are also expected to use an electronic grade book at the secondary level as well as content specific applications.
We offer training in all of these products where teachers are paid to go to a class for two hours where they are trained on the software and then are given time to create products they can use in their classroom the next day.
Is proficiency as simple as maintaining your Webgrader grades so that students and parents can access their grades each day? Is it as simple as uploading an Activstudio Flipchart to share with grade level teachers in the district? Or is it more involved? Where a teacher not only uses a flipchart as an electronic whiteboard, but is creating them during planning time and providing opportunity for students to show their understanding as well.
Or, is it ultimately a sliding scale where every teacher is expected to show the minimum proficiencies of being able to email, share a newsletter, and grades (where appropriate) in the first year, and then the expectations increase as you progress through your career?
This also brings about a potentially bigger question of how to we ensure that our principals (who are not using this technology in a classroom everyday) recognize the signs of good use of technology versus good showing of technology.
There are many questions. We’re about to begin to address them for our district. I wonder what other people are doing to answer these questions. I know that ISTE has a potential tool they will unveil at NECC next week. I am excited to see what we come up with.
