When planning your professional development, it is recommended that you review policies, regulations, and agreements and analyze needs. Use the questions in this section to guide your initial planning.

To analyze needs, consider the following elements:

People

• What technological knowledge, skills, and attitudes do current staff members have?
• Has the district surveyed staff to learn what staff think about technology?
• Has the district asked staff what incentives might be effective?
• Has the district polled the community to learn public attitudes and expectations about new technologies in schools?
• How many computer experts – school staff, vendors, and paid or volunteer "partners" from business, colleges, and universities – are available to present staff development programs and act as coaches?

Equipment and Supplies

• What equipment and supplies are already on hand?
• Where is equipment for staff development located (or where might it be)?
• What changes in facilities, furniture and furnishings, and hardware accessories will be needed to ensure staff health, safety, and comfort while using new technologies?

Money

• What is the current budget and source of funds for staff development?
• Are they adequate, considering that staff development for technology use is more complex than most traditional staff development?
• Has a community awareness program helped taxpayers understand the need for staff development for new technologies?
• Has the district pursued staff development grants, donations, and scholarships?
• If so, has the time and salary investment paid off adequately?
• Would it be cost effective to offer staff additional tuition reimbursement for higher education rather than developing inservice training on certain topics?
• Would it be more cost effective to use outside consultants to assist with initial staff development activities for a new technology?

Sources of information for conducting a needs analysis:

• School district technology committee members
• Staff and community focus groups
• Staff, student, and community surveys (collected on paper forms or by telephone)
• Surveys of staff members’ jobs and tasks (collected from records, staff surveys, or observation)
• Existing records from the school district, community organization, educational agencies, and institutions (especially the state department of education)
• Lists of job tasks and related competencies from professional societies

Special needs of adult learners:

• Adults are more concerned than children are about time.
• Adults have more experiences and a richer base of knowledge to draw upon – and have more "unlearning" to do as they abandon old habits and procedures.
• Concrete experience: unstructured opportunities to "play around" with a new idea or tool
• Reflective observations: opportunities to "stand back" to "look over" (literally or figuratively) a new idea or tool in order to develop several perspectives about it
• Abstract conceptualization: opportunities to perceive the symbolic implications of a new idea to tool and form theories about its relationships to other ideas and tools
• Active experimentation: opportunities to use a new idea of tool to accomplish something practical

Ongoing Programs and Support

Successful staff development for making the most of new technologies demands continuing structured support. An initial technology program can inspire high levels of staff motivation, but many critical success factors are beyond individual staff member’s control. Here are some successful tools for providing continuing support that is crucial to successful staff development programs in technology implementation:

• Telephone hotline
• Upskilling opportunities
• User groups
• Peer coaching

Keeping in mind adults’ special learning needs and people’s aversion to change, school districts can craft messages that motivate interest in staff development. Careful phrasing will spark interest:

• "Keep your skills in…up to date" and "Learn the latest about…" appeals to desire for knowledge, mastery, self-esteem, and economic advantage
• "Share this special learning experience with your colleagues…" appeals to desire for exploration, collaboration, and sociability
• "Come to this workshop and get your hands on…" appeals to desire for novelty, sensory stimulation, and knowledge
• "A skills update in…"
• "A demonstration of current…"
• "A technology users’ group discussion of"
• "An opportunity for hands-on practice using…"

The greatest motivators may be the payoffs of effective technology use:

• A developing sense of mastery
• Improved job skills and opportunities for continued employment and salary increases/promotion
• Enhanced efficiency and creativity on the job
• Satisfaction from seeing students’ learning improve
• Shared vocabulary, interests, and relationship with other users of technology within the educational field and the community-at-large

Keep the following pointers in mind:

• Do not plan to start using technology in an unrealistically short period of time that does not allow for adequate staff development.
• Allow twice the time you think that you need for implementing software and hardware systems and training teachers to use them. Allow additional time for teachers to practice their newly acquired skills and do not try to teach them everything at once.
• Anticipate major distracters or competitors that impinge on teachers’ time and efforts, such as new statewide competency testing programs and new curriculum projects.
• Provide leadership, specific planning, and directions for how teachers should learn to use new technology.
• Help teachers to believe in the potential benefits of technology use, understand them and be skilled in using them
• Show how technology can help teachers solve real classroom problems, adding more value than they cost in time, money, and effort.

In this Module:

In the Toolkit: