Chapter 5

This chapter discusses how to promote technology in professional development. During my practicums I did not see technology used as often as I had anticipated. I also learned that during professional development classes, technology was rarely the topic. Chapter 5 offers a few tools that can help ease teachers into using technology more comfortably and more often.

I had never thought about using the same tools that I plan on using to encourage my students, to encourage my colleagues. For example, I have discussed some uses of blogging, and the book talks about using it to “promote teachers’ comfort with and understanding of Web 2.0 tools”. This makes so much sense! Blogging allows teachers to ask questions, share ideas, and experience technology at its finest and arguably easiest. I think teachers who are not comfortable with technology would be able to become a whiz at blogging; that comfort will carry on to other sources, and encourage them to branch out and incorporate new ideas in their classroom.

 For EDCI 509, I wrote a paper about using technology to help young adult literacy. Of course I can’t find my paper now, but I remember a couple studies found that teachers were actually afraid of technology because they were unsure how to use it, and once they were taught, they integrated it into their curriculum as much as they could. If I can find the names of the studies, I’ll add it in here. But, professional development in technology is an important resource many schools are lacking.

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