Choose your own tech adventure! A new style of technology PD.

Notice that all great technology PD courses involve Mountain Dew.

We have an idea to share and want your thoughts…..

Last Oct, we ran a mini-conference at Valley Southwoods related to technology and EEI.  The feedback was positive, especially because… A)sessions were taught by district teachers  and B) everyone had choice.   Some teachers loved the short introductory sessions, others wanted extended sessions to have time to dig into the topic.

 Here’s our idea:
Instead of a traditional PD course, with only one specific topic for the entire 15 hours, we are proposing a different approach.   A staff development course that is entirely made up of multiple topics that you can pick and choose the topics that are of interest to you!    Each topic would be 3 hours of time – so you would need 5 total blocks in order to meet the 15 hour requirement for staff dev credit and/or Drake credit. 

Here’s a specific example of what the schedule might look like:

	Mon June 4th	Tues June 5th	Wed June 6th	Thurs June 7th
AM Sessions 8:30am to 11:30am	Using Kidblog.org	ScreenCasts	Twitter	Google Docs
	Safari Montage	MovieMaker	Safari Montage	MovieMaker
	Animoto	Standards Based Grading in Infinite Campus (grades 7-12)	Animoto	Twitter
PM Sessions 12:30pm to 3:30pm	K-3 iPad apps	K-3 iPad apps	Classrooms Blogs	Gloogster
	Edmodo	Edmodo	MovieMaker	Classroom Blogs
	Google Docs	Standards Based Grading in Infinite Campus (grades 7-12)	Gloogster	ScreenCasts

 Here are some of the specific 3 hour topics that we think could be offered…..

1)      MovieMaker:   editing and producing short videos with Windows MovieMaker (most likely taught by Jackie)

2)      Standards Based Grading with Infinite Campus:  (grades 7-12) How to set up your grade book for standards based style grading in Campus

3)      KidBlog.org:  Using kidblog for student writing

4)      Safari Montage:  How to access, search, and build playlist in Safari Montage (replacement for DE Streaming).  Also how to use student accounts, how to make assignments, on-line quizzes, and use their iPad app. (most likely taught by Jackie)

5)      Google Docs:  an Introduction to Google docs

6)      K-3 iPad apps:  A session for teachers to share their favorite iPad apps, with time to dig into why and how the apps are used.

7)      Twitter:  an introduction to using twitter for your own professional development and/or classroom usage  (most likely taught by Brian)

8)      Edmodo: an introduction to using Edmodo, building courses, getting students setup, turning in assignments, discussions, grade book, and practice tests/quizzes

9)      Gloogster: Making on-line posters

10)   Animoto:  Creating on-line slideshows with pictures, text, and music

11)   Classroom Blogs:  Creating a classroom website/blog

NOTE:  some of these topic, depending on interest, might be expanded to a second level.  Example: we might have a Twitter level 2 for those who already have a twitter account, and a level 1 for those who do not or have one but haven’t used it much.  This could also apply to Edmodo or other topics as well.

Questions for you…………..

1) What do you think?  Will this be appealing to staff?

2)  What topics are we missing that might interest staff?

3)  Please contact Jackie Neuberger if you’re interested in being a trainer.  It’s $30/hour for any session – and we’re certainly open to adding new topics/ideas.

What our staff thinks of our district technology services…

Each of the past 12 years, we’ve conducted satisfaction surveys with our school district staff.  It’s a relatively short survey, and we’ve used many of the same questions each year. Our goal is to track customer services.  For example, we don’t ask questions related to the latest gadget or gizmo… instead, we focus on fundamental customer service points –  as our belief is that quality customer service will always be needed regardless of the device.

How the survey works:
All staff receive a short on-line survey. Each question is a positive statement such as, “When members of the district technology departments visit my building, they are courteous and treat the staff and students with respect.”   Users are asked to rate the statement as: Strongly Agree,   Agree,  Disagree,  Strongly Disagree, or  I don’t know.

 

For the summary charts below,  % Strongly Agree + % Agree =  Approval rating (which is the blue bars below).  In other words, we only count if they positively agree with a statement.  If we scored a 90% approval rating, that means 90% of the responses were Strongly Agree or Agree.

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For the charts below….

Overall = How we did based on all survey responses

Teachers = How we did based on classroom teacher responses only

Support = How we did based on support staff responses only

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View the full survey results including all comments 

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Comments from “What are we doing well?”

WORKORDER RESPONSE TIME:
+ Prompt and effective response to questions and other requests for assistance. Thank you!
+ Always friendly and willing to fix any problem
+ I am very impressed with the speed with which work orders are addressed.

TECHS ARE GREAT:
+ Technicians are great and very competent
+ The technicians are the probably the best example of this. The teachers really appreciate them.

INITIATIVES:
+ LOVE the laptop and iPad initiatives.
+ The addition of iPads has been wonderful for small group instruction.

TRAINING:
+ Good pushing out of new technology through the train the trainer model and making people take a class to be able to be independent, trained users.

COMMUNICATION
+ Communication is timely–from workorders to if we are having technology problems in the district, such as internet problems.
+ Fabulous job keeping us updated on tech plans – long term as well as short term.
+ I am impressed with the level of transparency that the technology department has with district employees.
+ I have been with the district 6 years and I see them continuing to improve.
+ Love the updates on real teachers using real technology in their rooms..makes everything seem “doable”

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Comments from “What suggestions do you have for improvement?”

iPAD DESIRES:
+ I know that district funding is, of course, an issue, but 3 ipads is not really enough.
+ More IPADS for a classroom. I could do a lot of differentiation with 5 IPADS.

EQUITY:
+ I have heard some teachers concerned that newer tecnhologies (i.e. iPad) are only made available to those who take a class.
+ I don’t understand why the district is offering iPad classes with a limited number of iPads. We are creating inequality among classrooms and buildings. I am very frustrated by this.
+ My concern is that we are creating haves and have nots in access to technology for students. (Ipads)
+ Offer the Apple Ipad to everybody not just a select few.

TRAINING:
+ More mini training sessions on specific programs like Edmodo and dropbox.
+ More technology training for secretaries
+ Would be great to see follow up classes to deepen the use once they are out
+ Infinite Campus- feel like we are just scratching the surface.
+ I think perhaps more Wednesday staff development from tech services would help many staff members.
+ We need some more training in our building to tap the full potential of what we can do with technology. We often hear, “We are only scratching the surface”

1:1 DESIRES:
+ How about 1:1 iPad for students?
+ I would still like to see a one-on-one initiative for high school students.

CONCERNS:
+ It takes FOREVER to log on to the new computers… (Brian’s note: this is specific to new Windows 7 laptop in a few specific buildings and is our current #1 issue)
+ I think we should be less liberal about allowing so many private wireless devices onto our network.
+ when will we have on-line registration?
+ A better FAQ/Support page for district tech. issues.
+ Continuing to address the ever-difficult issue of maintaining enough bandwidth