Long-term Technology Integration and Professional Development via an Online Network Learning Community
Technology for Learning Disabilities Project Summary
The WA State Technology for Learning Disabilities (TLD) project (part of the Federal Enhancing Education Through Technology Grant) provides technology, professional development, and strategies to assist teachers in integrating technology into their instruction for learning disabled students.
Participating teachers are provided tech tools (e.g. teacher trio - laptop, document camera, projector; interactive white board; scanner) and software (MS Office, TextHelp Read & Write Gold, Inspiration, Ultra Key, Visual Thesaurus, and Start to Finish books) to integrate into their classroom. For a complete description of the TLD project, hardware, and software, please check the WA State Special Education Technology Center (SETC) TLD website www.cwu.edu/~setc/tld.
Purpose of the “My eCoach” Networked Learning Community
When teachers (some technology novices) received grant equipment in August 2005, they were given 5 days of intense, face-to-face, hands-on, technology training. Upon their return to school they were expected to set-up the technology in their classrooms and begin integrating it into their teaching. This is a very tall order considering, 1) Much of the technology was new to them, 2) They had to rely on what they had been taught at the training, 3) Now they would be busier than ever trying to meet requirements of the grant in addition to their usual heavy workload.
Some teachers were able to fly right away and others felt like they could only crawl along. But because of My eCoach, all felt reassured that the trainers and resources they depended upon at the initial training were still at their fingertips. They also knew that they could interact with administrators and each other for ideas and support.
Technology Integration and Long-Term Professional Growth
In order to sustain the project following the initial training, My eCoach (www.my-ecoach.com) has been used to deliver a rigorous, ongoing professional development program that emphasizes long- term growth. My eCoach gives the project a "pulse" technology integration tasks are progressively assigned to teachers and they create Individual Learning Portfolios (ILP) to provide feedback about their experiences for evaluation and research purposes. This feedback also guides administrators in the delivery of ongoing professional development and teacher support throughout the project.
This long-term growth model can be contrasted quickly to prevalent less effective "one shot inoculation" training workshops that are static in nature as a norm in the U.S. These static models suffer from a number of weaknesses in that they
- do not guarantee a "workshop" product to be directly implemented into classroom instruction
- do not archive professional training feedback for use by a wider range of teachers
- posess no means for ongoing, real-time support during implementation.
In creating ILPs a teacher (and school) moves from a static one-way collaboration training environment to a two-way (or multiple way) viewpoint of professional training and long-term growth.
The Network Learning Community Profile
The TLD Network Learning Community consists of:
- classroom teachers
- project administrator & eCoach
- online program mentors / trainers
- specific hardware & software vendors and those companies' tech support people
- project evaluator
TLD Project Management
From an administrative standpoint, My eCoach has streamlined management of the grant project:
- At the beginning of each month specific technology integration activities are assigned to teachers and pertinent information is given.
- At the end of each month teachers give a report in an ILP (Individual Learning Profile) describing their experiences with each assigned task. The ILPs then becomes a living, progressive, professional development portfolio for both the teacher, the eCoach and the evaluator.
- Teachers use My eCoach email, the “Discussion Forum” and “Post a Resource” to share ideas and information as they go along.
- Teachers can share technology integration lesson plans with one another in the “Universal Lesson Builder” module.
- Since the TLD project's reading/writing/study software (TextHelp Read & Write Gold) is new to the teachers and their students, support personnel at TextHelp Systems are also a part of the eCoach team. They monitor the discussion board where Q & A's are posted whenever teachers have questions or technical issues. They also make themselves available for direct contact if needed. Tech support contacts for other software and hardware companies are added to the team as needs arise.
TLD Project Meets National Professional Development Goals
This web-based collaborative training program contains two significant features that address recently published national professional development goals:
- The project strives to develop teacher attitudes conducive to long-term growth in the training areas.
- The project requires participating teachers to create Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) throughout the training year that document their training growth. Since these ILPs are web-based and collaborative, eMentors and eCoaches can assist teachers whenever needed in all task assignments.
- Teachers can interact with one another.
- Using My eCoach, an independent evaluator can seamlessly gather data to address research design questions by examining the ILPs. The evaluator is intimately involved in the long-term growth measuring process and can provide guidance to project administrators. The evaluator can gather data in a cost effective manner by monitoring the ILPs without even visiting some classrooms. In addition, midstream refinement of some experimental questions and how those questions are being addressed by classroom teachers is very possible within the ILP format. The ILPs provide candid snapshots that teachers elicit in response to training barriers. These candid snapshots are particularly apparent in the training tasks related to technology integration - a very trying experience for novice users of technology.
During this time when data-driven, research-based, decision-making is stressed, whether initiating programs or purchases, a collaborative network can certainly help to eliminate the guesswork.
This document was created by TLD administrator and eCoach Jill Hallows, hallowsj@cwu.edu and eCoach Mentor David Tucker, david.tucker2@comcast.net.