Technology Training

The current state of my faculty's technology skills are as varied as our ages! We have twenty somethings all the way up to people who have been working in the same school for 20 years. This disparity in age and era can cause a big gap in our technological know-how. Which leads me to ways technology staff development is provided (or not provided) in my school. We have a great media specialist who is very knowledgeable and always willing to help. She makes sure that all teachers are familiar and comfortable with the technology they have access to. There are also workshops and seminars available occasionally through the county on different programs.

Strategies and approaches that support productive technology staff development are taking time during faculty and staff meetings to ask what questions if any are there for the media specialist about the technology we use everyday. Problems and barriers to productive technology staff development are late adaptors that just don't want to progress forward. They like what they know and they are very hesitant to learn anything new.

Specific ways the school library media specialist can fulfill the duties of technology coach as outlined in the ISTE standards for me would be through visionary leadership and extensive content knowledge.

As a media specialist, it will be my job to inspire and participate in the development and implementation for a shared vision of integrating technology. One way I could do this would be to offer a tutorial on using and troubleshooting common issues with Promethean boards during a Professional Learning day. Content knowledge of not only technological know-how but adult learning and leadership will be key. Knowing what videos to use and what vernacular to throw out there when discussing technology with learning adults during my professional learning day will make my audience more receptive to the information given and therefore, help increase staff development.

Blog 6: Tech Training by Melissa Babecka

      The current state of the faculty's technology skills in the school where I am doing my volunteer experience hours depends largely on the age of the particular faculty member. It seems that the younger faculty members are more tech savvy than the older faculty members. The younger faculty members have grown up with the technology and had a lot of time to hone their skills while the older faculty members always feel as if they are having to play "catch-up" with the many different types of technologies. 

     The ways technology staff development is provided in my school is by various staff training days. One older math teacher made a comment to me that she felt that the training on the SMART boards and document cameras was rushed and lacking any "hands on" training time which she felt would be very beneficial to teachers like her who needed that time to feel more comfortable using the technology. She also stated to me that she did not have a lot of extra time to investigate new technologies on her own time. 

     Some strategies and approaches that support productive technology staff development could be to have tech training screencast videos available on the library media center's website that could teach new technologies to teachers and/or students and could be learned on their own time. Also, there could be tech training before or after school and during lunch time, basically anytime when it would be most convenient for the faculty to meet. If you can offer training time and a "free" pot-luck lunch by having the teachers sign up to bring a food/drink item while the librarian offers the the tech training, then you are going to have better attendance. 

     Some problems/barriers to productive technology staff development could be time constraints or low interest in the topic. 

     Some specific ways the school library media specialist can fulfill the duties of technology coach as outlined in the ISTE standards is by demonstrating and modeling new technologies, collaborating with faculty to evaluate new technologies, and to engage in continual learning of new technologies. School library media specialists can demonstrate and model new technologies by having in service training sessions and by posting tech training screencasts videos on the media center's website. School library media specialists can collaborate with faculty by planning co-teaching units using different technologies and by engaging with faculty members to find out what they are interested in learning. This can be done with simple online polls or email. The school library media specialists can engage in continual learning of new technologies by attending training and conferences. 

     I, as a library media specialist, would use the following ways to provide technology staff development to my teachers: tech training screencasts on the media center's website, web polls to find out what tech training the faculty is interested in learning about, and a once a month tech training pot-luck. 

Blog 7: Technology, Diversity and the Media Center

Many schools recognize that serving the needs of a diverse population is a dire necessity. On the other hand, many schools fail to provide the necessary programs and curriculum to serve a population of culturally different learners. The Schoolwide Cultural Competence Observation Checklist (SCCOC) was developed by Bustamante, Nelson, and Onwuegbuzie (2009) in order to assess whether schools were allocating the necessary resources to service diverse groups of students. How can the media center ensure that it too is meeting the needs of diverse students?

The term diversity can mean many different thing to many different people. So, what is the definition of diversity? Nieto (1999) suggests that cultural diversity is a complex entity that goes beyond everyday things such as traditions, food, fashion, and folklore. Diversity includes these influences but also includes daily experiences shaped by social factors and other factors defined by a particular region or community. Certainly ethnicity, race, family structure, socioeconomic status language, religious preferences, age, gender, and many other factors play a major role in determining diversity. Putting a single factor or designation on diversity may actually do the actual definition a disservice. Many factors play a role in determining one’s diversity.  

The role of the media center in promoting cultural diversity in a school is an immense undertaking. The media center has a responsibility to promote literature that is culturally accurate while giving students from diverse backgrounds a chance to engage in literature that depicts their respective culture. Media centers must house materials that are divers in nature so students from diverse cultures can find a deeper appreciation of their culture. In addition, students should be exposed to cultures that are not their own so that they may understand and value other cultures. According to Naidoo (2014), media centers can make a huge difference by including diversity in its programs and collections. In turn, the media center has the potential for helping children make cross-cultural connections and develop the skills necessary to engage productively in other diverse settings.

Media centers are a natural place where students can explore many different avenues of interests. Therefore, it is a wonderful place for students to explore diversity and different cultures in order to better appreciate these cultures. Technology is a great instrument for students to use to discover diversity. Technology helps students to engage in other cultures that they may otherwise not get the opportunity to do so. The internet allows students to reach out to diverse students in other countries to try and learn more about them. In addition, access-enhancing technology allows students with diverse needs to access materials that they may otherwise have trouble doing.

I have personally seen many media centers adopt materials that are divers in nature. Many library collections now contain materials that meet the needs of a diverse set of students. As far as technology, I think media centers are not quite proficient when it comes to serving diverse students. Technology can be a wonderful tool to teach others about diversity as well as helping students who have diverse needs.   

References

Bustamante, R M, Bustamante, J A, & Nelson, A J. (2009). Assessing schoolwide cultural

    competence: implications for school leadership preparation. Educational administration

    Quarterly, 45(5), 793-827.

Naidoo, J. (2014). The Importance of diversity in library programs and material collections for children. Chicago: Association for Library Service to Children, American Library Association.

Nieto, Sonia. 1999. The Light in Their Eyes: Creating Multicultural Learning Communities. New York: Teachers College Press.

Technology Training via the SLMS

While technology abounds, its usefulness can only come to fruition if it is in fact used.  Having been in two vastly different arenas of educational technology in the past year, I can see problems arise from the total lack of technology.  I have seen issues as well from having it and not being able to properly or successfully utilize it on a daily basis.  

Last year, I worked in a school where the only technology I had in my room was an overhead projector and Vis-à-vis colored markers.  There were only 3 overhead projectors that could be borrowed from the media center and there were only 2 promethean boards (one of which was in an Exceptional Education room and could only be used by and ExEd teacher and those specific students).   At my new school this year, I have my own touchscreen LED Promethean as well as a plethora of other technology available to use within the building.

Dealing with both ends of the technology spectrum opened my eyes to the great disconnect that happens as a result of technology in schools.  On one hand, you have schools that are not financially able to have such wonderful tools that could expand and extend learning to whole new levels.  On the other, some places have tons of technology, but you are left to navigate those waters alone or beholden to the mercy of the IT department coming down to train you when they get the chance.

My current media specialist is a whiz at technology and does a great job of helping you to figure out what is needed to troubleshoot issues that you may have when you need them.  But, as far as training the staff or sending out important information or screencasts on new technology, it is a pipe-dream.  Our media specialist has no assistant or volunteers to ease the daily struggle while she struggles to keep the media center and its basic functions going in addition to being responsible for entering student data and testing information into the system and creating data graphs for the administration and staff to use.  Add coaching, making announcements, and having to teach students in Extended Learning Time and you quickly realize that the SLMS has little to no extra time to collaborate with teachers concerning their technology or the ongoing units in their classrooms.  None of this, however, is the media specialist’s fault; it is the nature of the beast in times of economic thinness and the saving of the almighty dollar in education.

I have received no formal technology training by either the SLMS or the IT people on how to use any of the technology that I have in my room.  I learned to do and handle the majority of issues on my own through researching and trial and error.  I am an independent learner in most cases anyway, and this did not pose an issue to me this year.  Nevertheless, I can see that not having the support of a SLMS could be a critical issue in a school where staff lack knowledge about technology or do not feel wholly comfortable with using it.  In turn, this leads to students missing out on great educational resources simply because their teachers are unprepared or untrained.

Being a school library media specialist also implies the coaching of technology in this ever-changing realm of libraries and what their functions are in order to maintain relevance.  As a SLMS and a technology coach, it is critical to provide training and options for faculty and staff so that they feel comfortable not only in the media center but in their own classrooms as well. 

There are so many awesome ways to use technology that mastering and providing training for all of them would be overwhelming and impossible.  However, there are simple ways to narrow it down and provide the most effective training possible in your school.  These are great option for things to provide:

• Refresher training for returning teachers during pre-planning
•  In-depth or extended training for teachers who are new to the field or the building during pre-planning
• One-on-one sessions for specific materials or equipment
• Weekly emails of fun, useful, and educational resources that teachers can incorporate into their classrooms using the technology that they have
• Screencasts or videos for common issues and how-to guides for equipment, technology, and resources in the building
•  Maintaining an effective and up-to-date website for the schools and media center where teachers can effectively use and find training help or videos
•  Do a year-long professional learning website regarding technology and resources where teachers can explore on their own time and ask questions as needed.

Blog 6: Technology Training

Technology at my school begins with the county initiative on technology. One of the strategic goals of the county is to integrate technology into all subject areas. Of course, this is an excellent goal on the surface. The problem arises when you dig deeper into the county initiative. I looked at the technology plan for the county, and it was dated 2006-2009. This is very troublesome because technology changes so much that it is very difficult to have a plan that is so outdated. I think the county has an excellent goal of getting teachers to incorporate technology in the curriculum. The problem is the plan starts and ends with the goal. Even though the county has a very specific and worthwhile goal, they have little or no plan on how to achieve the goal. With this type of planning, there is little continuity between schools in how to achieve the goal. The goal is doomed to fail because there is no specific means to achieving it.

            As for individual schools and technology, each school is left to their own as to what technology to purchase and how to provide training in reference to the technology. The county and individual schools have a lot of technology that is available for use. Having technology is a very good initial step. The problem at my school is that there is very little training in regard to the technology that is accessible. Another problem is schools have different types of technology at their respective schools. So, once again, there is little continuity between schools. As for my school, we have an abundance of technology available. The obstacle is that teachers within the school are at different levels on how to plan for and how to use the technology. For example, we have student response systems in our school that can be utilized by teachers on a check-out basis. Some teachers use these faithfully, while other teachers do not even know how to use them. The question arises as to what good is technology if it can’t even be used? I think the major problem lies in having consistency in two areas across the county.

            First, schools should all have the same type of technology available. The county needs to put a strategic plan in place as to what technology should be utilized in all schools. I think the plan should differentiate between elementary, middle, and high school, since students on these levels have different needs in terms of technology. Secondly, there needs to be mandatory training at the county level. The training needs to be held at strategic times. The best time to train teachers is at the beginning of the school year. When training is provided at the end of the school year, teachers never get the chance to use the technology in the classroom. The training is forgotten over the summer. Consistency is the key when it comes to incorporating technology on a county-wide level. Consistency in available technology and training will help the county to realize their goal in terms of technology. Finally, a plan has to be put into place to ensure teachers are using technology. The county has to inspect what they expect.

            At my school there is plenty of technology available to teachers if the wish to use it. Once again the problem lies in the training. Many teachers are not comfortable enough to incorporate technology into their lessons. The media specialist does the best that she can with assisting teachers with technology. She offers some training, but it is not mandatory. Teachers do not take advantage of the training that is offered. I think that mandatory training needs to be introduced. I also believe that there has be different levels of training available. Not all teachers are on the same level when it comes to technology, therefore, they should not be offered the same training. There needs to be differentiated training for teachers. My school system spends an inordinate amount of money on technology, but offers little or no training. I think it would be wise to hire a technology specialist for each school who could collaborate with the media specialist to offer staff development at each school. In addition, this technology specialist could show teachers how to use technology in their classrooms. Schools spend a lot of money on technology without a plan on how to integrate the technology. Why have technology if it isn’t being used to it full potential?