When learning goals are clear, teachers get more out of PD – from Tom Daccord

This post first appeared on eSchool News.

As I look back on the summer, one of the things that strikes me is how often a workshop I’ve given has followed a “technology training” at a school. In other words, faculty had already received tech training on the particular platform, device or tool I was asked to address. Sometimes this training had been administered in-house, but often it had been delivered by a technology company who came in and explained how their product works. Often, the school administrator would explain the reason for my workshop like this: “Well, the company came in and showed us the product, but the teachers don’t understand how and why to teach with it.”

Tom Daccord Creativity & iPads

As I see again and again, the real challenge for teachers is not learning technology. It’s developing a pedagogical vision of what’s possible and then a willingness to make it happen. A defining trait of effective technology programs is a well-defined, actionable, and motivating vision of technology-aided teaching and learning. If teachers understand, accept, and embrace an educational goal, it can become a focal point for a change in practice.

>> Read the full post on eSchool News.


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