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Teaching for the 21st Century

The Teaching for the 21st Century program (T21) is a year-long professional development program offered to schools and districts to develop teacher leaders in technology integration.

Successful technology integration in schools requires administrative support, but ultimately instructional change happens from the bottom up: teachers devise ways to use technology to help students develop as 21st century learners. Therefore, our professional development model works with cohorts of enthusiastic (but not necessarily experienced) teachers to train them as teacher leaders in education technology integration. After a year in our program, these teachers return to their schools and departments to lead their colleagues in systemic, sustainable reform.

Our program combines practical workshops, online courses, live webinars, and extensive individualized support to help teachers employ the best online resources for teaching, collaboration, and constructivist 21st Century student learning.

The Teaching for the 21st Century Professional Development Program (T21) provides cohorts of teachers with the opportunity to develop their technology integration skills over a one-year period. Participants in the program leave with greater confidence in their computing skills, practical approaches for integrating technology in the curriculum, and a readiness to take a leadership role in promoting thoughtful computer use in their schools.

Each T21 cohort is typically comprised of 20 teachers from the same school or district. (Cohorts can be larger or smaller in size.) Cohorts can be made up of members of a single department or comprised of teachers from different disciplines who show a special interest in developing their technology integration skills.

T21 Program Details

16 hours of customized workshops: the first workshop opens the door to new Web 2.0 opportunities for teaching with technology; the second workshop supports teachers in integrating technology as a regular, constant element of their teaching and classroom life. The third workshop assesses progress and builds capacity for future growth. Each workshop is customized to ensure that our training supports the educational mission of the individual school or district.
Two online mini-courses in technology integration topics to further skills and keep teachers abreast of research and resources. Cohorts will participate in two 6-week long asynchronous online courses about Web 2.0 tools that allow students to communicate, collaborate, and create and exemplary technology integration lessons and activities.
Threesynchronous webinars and online office hours where participants can ask questions and engage in conversation with EdTechTeacher instructors in real time.
15 hours of individualized online/telephone consulting and coaching to help teachers find resources, develop lesson plans, and troubleshoot challenges. (Greater Boston schools may choose to have 10 of these hours on site)
An online community that allows teachers to experience firsthand the benefits of knowledge co-construction in Web 2.0 spaces. Our T21 online community allows teachers to collaborate with us online, to share insights with each other, and to develop the learning that begins in the workshops and online courses.
Access to more than 65 EdTechTeacher video tutorials, as well lesson plans, and other premium content from EdTechTeacher.org.
Copies of Best Ideas for Teaching with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, by Teachers, our indispensable resource for learning to using technology in the classroom, for each participant.

Sample T21 Program

Note: The following is a sample program only. T21 particulars vary from school to school based on school/district needs, scheduling options, and professional development credits.

Fall

A. 1st full day face-to-face workshop: Nurturing the 21st Century Classroom

Topics:

Nurturing the 21st Century Classroom: Research, Exemplars, Resources
Why Johnny Can't Search: Teaching Effective Search Strategies and Web Literacy
Myth and Reality: Copyright in the Digital Age
Using Google Docs in the Collaborative Classroom

B. Asynchronous Online Mini-Course: Free, Easy Tools for Online Communication,
Collaboration, Creativity, and Visible Thinking

This online course will introduce participants to various tools that allow students to communicate, collaborate, and create with one another and make their thinking visible. The course consists of six lessons, with one new lesson every other week. The lessons are conducted asynchronously, so participants can complete their lessons at any point during the week, and each lesson is design to take approximately 45 minutes. Each lesson will include an introduction to a new tool, a chance to try out the new tool, and then an opportunity to discuss ways the tool might be useful in your classroom.

C. Synchronous Webinar
The online mini-course will include a 1-hour synchronous Webinar. You will be able to participate in this Webinar from home, school, or anywhere.

Winter

D. 2nd full day face-to-face workshop: Thriving in a Web 2.0 Classroom

Topics:

Not Another Paper! Alternative Projects & Social Media
Digital Storytelling
Dynamic Teaching with SmartBoards

E. Asynchronous Online Mini-Course: Online Idea Garden

This online course will explore best practices in online teaching and learning across the subject areas. We'll examine learning environments and projects from some of the best teachers online, and then discuss what we see as the strengths and weakness of each approach. The lessons are conducted asynchronously, so participants can complete their lessons at any point during two-week intervals, and each lesson is design to take approximately 45 minutes Each lesson will include an invitation to explore a group of learning environments, and an exercise to reflect on and discuss what we are exploring.

F. Synchronous Webinars
The online mini-course will include two, 1-hour synchronous Webinars. One of the webinars will be held during the online course, and the other will be conducted at the end of the course. You will be able to participate in these webinars from home, school, or anywhere.

Spring

G. 3rd full day face-to-face workshop: Looking Back, Looking Forward: Evaluating Progress and Building Capacity for Growth

Topics:

Assessment 2.0
Building a Professional Learning Community

H. Culminating Project
As an activity participants plan and outline a technology-integration project that includes Objectives, Activity, Technology, Resources, Assessment. (Note: Participants submit the project to instructors for formal assessment if taking program for graduate credit.)