TechPDForMe

NeedForTechnologyProfessionalDevelopment

Todayseducatorsareaffordedmanyopportunitiesviatheinternetandaccesstotechnological
resourcestodiscuss,develop,curate,andevaluatetheirowninstructionalpractices.Traditional
professionaldevelopmenttraininghastendedtobetechnocentric,butrather,toincreaseeducator
proficiencyintechnology,professionaldevelopmenttrainingmustshifttobecontentcentricto
exemplifyexactlyhowtechnologicaltoolscanassisteducatorsinmeetingintendedlearning
goalsorobjectives(Wilkin,Rubino,Zell,&Shelton,2012).Intermsoftechnology,this
professionaldevelopmentcoursehasbeendesignedtoeliciteducatorparticipantthinkingand
evaluateitsqualityaboutvariousWeb2.0toolsimplementationintotheirexistingpedagogy.
Enthusiasticallyembracinglifelonglearninghasbecomeadutythateducatorsconfrontand
engageinastheybecomemorefluentwithdigitaltechnologiesintheirclassrooms.

ProcessandStrategy

Itisoftheutmostimportance,astheinstructorandfacilitatorinthiscourse,thatIstrivetofoster
transferfromtheasynchronous,LMSsettingofSchoologytorealworldapplicationand
performancewithintheclassroom.Ibelievethatprovidingeducatorparticipantswiththeoption
ofchoicesparksalearningenvironmentthatissynergetic,authentic,andbalanced.Forthis
reason,IdesignedthiscourseasvoluntaryPD.IfeducatorscanaccessPDattheirown
convenience,thenthiscoursecouldconveyandpromoteawarenessofthecapabilitiesprovided
byatechnologyrichlearningenvironment.Iftodaysstudentscansearch,communicate,
validate,collaborate,synthesize,andlogicallycertainconclusionsthanoureducatorsmust
followsuit.Withintheeducationconstruct,thereisanapparentneedfortheinsightof
instructionaldesignerstoserveastheprimarysourceofinformationandexpertiserelatedto
instructionaldesignmodelswithinthespacefortrainingandamelioration.

First,asinstructionaldesignerIrecruitededucatorparticipantsforTechPDForMeatOLAin
aninformal,facetofacesynchronoussessionintheirrespectiveclassrooms.Second,I
conductedaneedsassessmentusingaGoogleFormssurveytoreviewthefeedbackaddressing
importanceoftechnology,technologyinpedagogy,individualtimespentusingtechtools,
studenttimespentusingtechtools,ePortfolios,PDtrainingattheirschool,andtheirself
efficacylevelswhenintegratingnewtools.Third,Icreatedacourseonthelearningmanagement
system,Schoologyandbegantocontrivecoursecontentinalignmentwiththelearning
objectivesdescribedineachADDIEphaseworksheetassignment.Ialsocreatedtasktutorialsfor
howtonavigatethecourseandcompletethemodules.Duringthisprocess,Ispecificallyfocused
ontheplanning,designing,andexecutingoftheePortfoliomodule.Fourth,Iengagedin

correspondencewithalleducatorparticipantsregardingthecreationofSchoology/Evernote
accountsanddirectionsforthedesiredtaskstobecompletedinthispilotmoduleofcuratingan
ePortfolio.Fifth,educatorparticipantsweresentanotheremailtotouchbaseandserveasa
remindertocuratetheirsampleePortfolioinEvernoteandthenpublishthelinkdirectlytothe
courseunderUpdates.AsummativeGoogleFormssurveywasthenusedtoreviewfeedback
addressingincreasedinterestinparticipatingintechPD,opinionofEvernoteforePortfolio
curation,perceptionsoftechnologyutilization,benefitsofusinganePortfoliowithstudents,and
beliefsonengaginginfutureopportunitiestoparticipateinafulldayimmersionworkshop
learningabouttechtools/resources.Thesurveyresponseswereautomaticallycollected,
organized,analyzed,reviewed,anddisplayedinthislinkeddata,partIandpartII.

ADDIEModel

EvaluationofProject
ThedatacollectedasapartofongoingassessmentshavebeencomprisedofGoogleForm
surveys,initialprecourseneedsassessmentandasummativeePortfolioassessment

evaluation.Inaddition,completionoffuturemodulesincludeafivemultiplechoiceandone
shortanswerquestionnairethatservesasquizfunctionofthecontentandmaterialsproposedin
thatspecificmodule.Formativeevaluationenablesboththeinstructorandstudenttogaugethe
effectivenessoftheassignedtasksaswellasassessparticipantsmasteryofthepresentedcontent.
IthasbeeninvaluablehavingtheopportunitytopilotthisePortfoliomoduleandbeginto
conducttechnologyprofessionaldevelopmenttrainingcenteredontheADDIEinstructional
designmodel.Observingandexperiencingthispilotinrealtimehasallowedmeto
conceptualizeanychangesthatmayneedtobemadeinfuturetechPDopportunities.Dueto
parentteacherconferences,theacademicquartercomingtoaclose,theholidayseasonamong
us,andreportcardsbeingsenthome,thecoursebeganatalaterdatethanoriginallyprojected.
ParticipantsbeganonNovember26th.Mystrongfamiliaritywiththeorganization,Archdiocese
ofSanFrancisco,teachingexperienceasaninstructionaleducator,andmyprofessional
connectionsatOurLadyofAngelsSchoolinBurlingamecouldbekeyelementsforprospective
officialdeliveryandsuccessofthiscourse.

Limitations

Promptingnovicetoexperteducatorparticipantstoengageinamodulewithinafully
computerized,voluntaryprofessionaldevelopmentprogramwasfarmoreofachallengethanI
hadinitiallyperceived.AnidentifieddisadvantageoftheADDIEmodelisitslinearprocess.
Thislinearprocesscanmakeinstructionalsystemdesignfinanciallybounding,asitsnotonly
moreexpensive,butalsomoretimeconsumingincomparisontosomeofthenewerinstructional
approachesliketheAgilemodels.Mostsignificantlyintermsofonboarding,timing,andoverall
executioninallfacetsofthecourse(notonlyonemodule).Duetotimeconstraintsintheinitial
onboardingprocessofthecourse,someofthenecessaryskillsthatimpacttheparticipants
potentialtosucceedinthistypeofasynchronous,technologyrichenvironmentwasnotentirely
evidentamongsttheparticipants.Thepotentialtosucceedinthiscourseisdependentuponthe
participantsmasteryofpresentedmaterials,promotionofapositiveselfefficacy,andeagerness
toimprovetheirlimitedtechskills.Thecompletionofeverymoduleshedslightonhownewor
expandeddatawithinthecoursecanfurtherequipmyself,instructionaldesigners,school
administrators,andotherpossibleclienteleinjudgingthetrueeffectivenessofthiscourses
outcomes.

Feedback

ProfessionaldevelopmentwithinK12educationcanincreaseeducatorproficiency,support
instruction,andconsequentiallyengagetheirdigitallynativestudents(Simpson&Bolduc
Simpson,2013).Allfeedbackforthiscoursewasprovidedinamultimodalmethodwhich
includedauditory,textual,andvisualchannels,thusensuringthemessageisconsistentand

reachesallstudentsregardlessoftheirpreferredlearningstyles.Themajorityofeducatorsfrom
OLAwhoparticipatedinthepilotofthismodule,haveabasicunderstandingand
acknowledgementofinnovationandpopularcontemporarydigitaldevices.Progressof
participantsinthisePortfoliomodulehavebeenassessedviasurveysandconstructivefeedback
methodsontheircuratedproduciblebymyself,thefacilitator.Infuturemodules,peerevaluation
willbeutilizedmoreoftenwithformativeandsummativeassessmentmethods.Participantscan
tracktheirownprogressioninSchoologyintermsofawardedbadges.Ireceivedpositiveand
constructivefeedbackinregardstotheePortfoliomodule.Educatorparticipantsshowed
increasedsupportforanADDIEdesigned,technologyprofessionaldevelopmentcourse.They
expressedanincreasedinterestinthepotentialtocontinuallyupdateandaddtotheirePortfolios
viaEvernote.Also,presentingtheopportunitytoimplementEvernoteasanePortfoliofor
studentsprovedtobeasuccessinandofitself.Participantsenjoythattheycanretrieveanyof
theadditionalPDcontent,materials,andresourcesduetotheirSchoologystudentaccountand
enlistedenrollmentinthecourse.Sincethecoursethusfarhasbeenconductedincondensed,
expeditedfashion,Iveseenfavorableresults.Conductingvoluntary,asynchronoussessionshas
animmensepotentialduringanormalizedscheduleandduration.Fortakingpartinthepilot,the
foureducatorparticipantsfromOLAhaveaccesstothecourseindefinitelyastofitwithintheir
timeconstraintsandothercommitmentsduringthisstageoftheacademicquarter.Adaptive
scaffoldingimplementedinlatermoduleswouldbeeffectiveinmovingtheeducatorparticipants
towardmoresophisticatedmentalmodels,increasingtheirdeclarativeknowledge,andinthe
promotionofselfregulatedlearningstrategies.

References