The future of education is changing before our eyes and I want to be at the forefront. I am passionate about getting students excited about learning and using technology in ways to enhance their learning, but how can students benefit from the advances in technology if their teachers do not know how to use the tools or understand how to implement various technologies in educationally appropriate ways? That’s where I come in. As a Technology and Media Integration Specialist, it is my goal to train teachers and get them excited about technology because when teachers are excited and engaged, so are their students.

 

Teachers are not created by cookie cutters. As they grow they develop unique teaching styles. It is important to create and tailor professional development for staff members on a group and individual basis . By gearing my training towards the styles and needs of the teachers I am coaching, they receive custom workshops, learn exactly what they need, and gain skills that are applicable to their respective subject areas. Rather than finding technology and feeding it to teachers, I get to know the teachers and bring them technology that will enhance what they are already doing in the classroom.

 

Learning individual teaching styles and needs across a whole district is a hefty task and I rely on digital correspondence and online surveys as my primary tools of communication. Submitting questions to teachers via Google Forms about how comfortable they feel, what training they would like next, and how they would like said content delivered gives me valuable information while also empowering the teacher knowing their answers have a direct impact into the training they have the potential of receiving.

 

In all my training sessions, I present material via interactive Powerpoint-type presentations, incorporate hands-on activities, provide links with how-to videos to use post training as reference, and also provide copies of printed out directions. Giving teachers multiple means of learning targets different ways of learning and increases knowledge retention. Offering printed directions and video links also gives support to teachers post training. It is important to me that training is meaningful and teachers leave with a sense of understanding and feel supported once the formal instruction sessions conclude.

When teachers leave a training session with a new level of technology comprehension, feel positive about what they have learned, and are excited about possibilities that lie ahead, I have succeeded. A natural lifelong learner, I love embracing new inventions and discovering how they can make an impact in education. With the evolution of technology, students are in a dire need of 21st Century skills and they can only learn those skills when teachers embrace those skills as well.