What+can+be+Learned+from+Great+Britain?



toc =What can be learned from Great Britain's approach to ICT professional development?= Based upon information gathered by current research and interviews conducted within Great Britain, it can be concluded that perhaps our district needs to transform our ICT professional development program to include and focus more upon the individual. But how do we do that? Even though we are considered a small district in the state of New Jersey, to create an individual professional development program for each teacher and support staff person feels impossible. Not quite. We can accomplish this transformation to not only include and focus upon the ICT development of the individual, but also to incorporate Guskey's (2007 as cited in Davis, Preston, & Sahin, 2009) five critical levels for the evaluation of professional development.

Why its it important to focus upon the individual and to incorporate Guskey's (2007 as cited in Davis, Preston, & Sahin, 2009) five critical levels for the evaluation of professional development? We need to continue to move forward in our district with regards to ICT professional development. If we want our students to be proficient digital and 21st Century learners then we need to make sure that our teachers are well-trained to integrate technology effectively. By creating an individual ICT aspect of professional development in conjunction with implementing Guskey's five critical levels, we will be able to create an ICT professional development program that will benefit both teachers and students into becoming proficient digital learners who will possess the skills necessary by the digital world that surrounds them.

=So...What's the Plan?= We have decided to create an ICT professional development website that will allow our teachers and the District to examine professional technology growth of its staff and allow teachers the ability to reflect upon technology products that have been implemented into the classroom. Additionally, Guskey's (2007 as cited in Davis, Preston, & Sahin, 2009) five critical levels for the evaluation of professional development have been incorporated to the website as a means for teachers to examine technology lessons implemented to determine effectiveness, application of ICT training/learning, and students' learning outcomes. The ICT professional development website will allow Fictitious School District to make adjustments of training based upon specific needs of the district and the individual while forging deeper into creating and integrating technology in our classrooms in meaningful ways that provide opportunities for students to critically think, apply, create, synthesize, collaborate, etc. in addition to allowing our teachers to move into deeper levels of integration as identified by the LoTi Framework (2011).

=What does the ICT Professional Development Site Look Like?=

Fictitious School District's ICT Professional Development Website