Technology has always driven how teachers teach, from the slate boards used by students in one-room schoolhouses to the introduction of overhead projectors, filmstrips, and reel-to-reel tape recorders. The phenomenon of television and VCRs added new possibilities. Handheld calculators, despite fears that students who used them would fail to learn underlying concepts, proved to save classroom time by allowing students to make computations quickly.
School leaders know that they need to adopt modern technology to deliver high-quality education. They are continually tasked with launching initiatives to take advantage of new EdTech. One of the biggest hurdles is figuring out how to provide the necessary EdTech training to ensure that teachers are effectively and safely using the new tools.
Arguably, the most transformative changes in instruction are happening now. The advent of the World Wide Web at the turn of the century saw schools utilizing federal funding to meet the National Information Infrastructure Act challenge, a national drive to have every school in the country wired for internet access by the year 2000. Twenty years later, rapid advances in mobile technology, cloud computing, and most recently, the availability of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, make it possible to offer students a personalized education. This same technology is also changing how educators pursue professional development (PD). In this dynamic environment, districts need to train teachers with a new kind of PD.
Over the past decade, technological advances have dramatically changed how we work, learn, play, and communicate. The mainstreaming of AI has accelerated this trend, and the rate of change does not appear to be slowing. Students that populate today’s elementary and middle schools will be graduating into quite a different digital world.
To ensure that their students are future-ready, districts must continually update their tech plans. However, introducing new systems and new software will only improve student outcomes if educators know how to use them effectively. Some teachers have strong digital skills and intuitively understand the best ways to integrate new tech tools into their classrooms. Others need more EdTech training to advance district initiatives. This is where traditional PD falls short. A group learning session offered during an in-service day may be a waste of time for some and a day of confusion for others.
Additionally, traditional PD programs hold training infrequently, usually twice or three times a school year. With weeks and months between sessions, information becomes outdated, and learners will forget much of what they learn. The passive, lecture-style format that is most often used to deliver traditional PD does not align with best practices for adult learning. A mature learner brings self-knowledge and experience to their learning, and they are motivated to engage with relevant materials that lead them to solve real-world problems. Learners are better able to internalize new information when they can select what they want to learn and can actively engage with the materials to achieve their goals.
Personalized Learning Opportunities
The faculty and staff of any district, no matter how small, bring a broad range of skills, knowledge, and experience to the classrooms. Effective PD programs recognize this and offer personalized learning opportunities. An educator will need to begin tackling new skills and concepts from their own starting point and pursue topics that are relevant to their role in the district.
Continuous, Targeted, and Self-Directed
Learners will better internalize new information when the learning is continuous and offered as short lessons that target discrete skills. An effective program enables teachers to move at their own pace so they may master one topic before moving on to deeper learning.
Convenient
An EdTech training program will not be effective if educators cannot fit PD into their schedules. Making PD easily accessible and convenient will ensure that teachers log on and engage with the training regularly.
Developing a PD program that has all these qualities may seem impossible, but just as technology creates the demand for this type of PD, it also offers school leaders a way to meet it.
MobileMind is a cloud-based learning hub that enables districts to offer their teachers personalized learning experiences. School leaders can build a program of micro-courses and learning paths that educators may access through a mobile app or browser extension. They may engage in PD anytime and anywhere they have internet access. Short, targeted bits of learning may be completed in a few minutes, making it possible to use spare moments to progress toward learning goals.
This type of learning is motivating because teachers will quickly see results and be awarded badges and microcredentials that document their progress. Essentially, the learning is hands-on. Educators will be working with the technology that the district has adopted, and they will produce materials that they can use immediately in their classrooms.
MobileMind Streamlines PD Program Development and Tracking
Once school leaders identify their district’s training needs, they can create lessons using MobileMind’s AI Content Genie, which draws content from YouTube videos to generate lessons. They can also tap into the Readymade Marketplace to utilize lessons and learning paths created by MobileMind’s expert partners. To meet a district’s unique PD requirements, program developers may create lessons and learning paths from scratch.
All PD is consolidated in one space. EdTech training, individual learning, and mandated training activities are tracked on the hub. Additionally, teachers may request PD credit for learning that they’ve engaged in outside the hub. Administrators can review lesson content, schedule conferences and teacher observations, create learning groups, and run reports from one dashboard.
Rapid advances in technology have changed how teachers deliver instruction. Forward-thinking leaders know that for students to be successful in college and careers, they should have access to the newest innovations in EdTech. When adopting new technologies, districts must modernize their PD program to ensure their educators can effectively use these new tools and pass this knowledge on to their students.
MobileMind simplifies the process of modernizing PD programs by personalizing learning and enabling districts to offer learning opportunities that align with district initiatives. Adult learning theory tells us that EdTech training will be more effective when learners engage in PD regularly, with easy and convenient access to their training.
MobileMind offers personalized professional development with activity-based learning. All PD activities are brought together in one space to simplify reporting and tracking. The ReadyMade Marketplace makes it easy for school leaders to develop relevant, effective PD programs. With one click, you can get pre-built learning paths, micro-courses, and badges for EdTech training. Schedule a call to learn more.
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