Running Header: TECHNOLOGY IN ADULT ENGLISH 1

Technology in Adult English as a Second Language Classes

California State University, Fullerton

Spring 2018

Eric Halterman
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Table of Contents

Introduction 3
Statement of Purpose 3
Introduction to the School 3
Technology Access and Use 4
Theoretical Introduction 6

Needs Analysis 7

Literature Review 10
Research Support for Goals 10
Professional Development Models 15

Planning Professional Development 15

Goals 16
Timeline 16
Professional Development Plan Overview 18
Budget 21

Professional Development Session 22

Evaluation 24

Reflection 25

References 27
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Technology in Adult English as a Second Language Classes

Introduction

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this plan is to highlight some of the major hindrances to

technology-acquisition and use for adult students learning English at Huntington Beach Adult

School (HBAS). One of the objectives of this institution is to provide English instruction that

adheres to 21st century standards. This plan is designed to help reach this goal.

Introduction to the School

The mission statement of HBAS is, “Huntington Beach Adult School promotes lifelong

learning by providing 21st century educational programs and prepares students for success in

postsecondary education, the workforce, and the community. The ultimate goal of the school is

to help adults learn English and transition into college or the workforce.

HBAS is located in Huntington Beach, California, and serves the Costa Mesa and

Westminster areas. The total population of students is 4,061, with the English as a Second

Language (ESL) ESL program consisting of 1,947 students. Table 1 shows the demographics of

the student population.

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Table 2 shows achievement data for all programs at HBAS, with the ESL program

showing 1,215 students improving out of 2,061. With regard to English language acquisition,

table 2 shows that slightly over half of the students were able to meet the goals set for them.

Technology Access and Use

HBAS operates with its main campus as well as several satellite sites. At the main

campus, each classroom is equipped with a smartboard and a tablet cart, with 30 tablets in each

cart. The satellite sites rely on what is already at the site. For example, one satellite site is at

DeMille Elementary School in Midway City. There is no smartboard on this campus, but HBAS

has provided a tablet cart for the teacher and his students, though the main complaints from

teachers at these satellite sites is the lack of reliable wifi. Teachers are each provided a Samsung

Chromebook for use in the classroom. Currently, there are no technology assistants who are in

charge of facilitating PDs and helping teachers utilize the technology given. Currently, no PDs

are planned as the school is attempting to hire a technology assistant. A computer class is

available for students. The curriculum is based on typing, safely navigating the internet, and

familiarizing students with the various user interfaces in Windows 10.

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Currently, there are four main campus locations and five satellite sites servicing

Huntington Beach, Midway City, and Westminster. The majority of the classes taught are ESL,

with the main campus also functioning as a Career Technology Education (CTE) site for students

who have graduated the ESL program and are looking for career training. The CTE programs

students can enroll in are: medical assistant, pharmacy technician, administrative assistant, office

clerk, medical billing and coding, accounting clerk, and at the beginning of next year, a business

information worker.

There are 55 teachers employed, with 12 of them being full-time tenured positions.

Twenty-four of these teachers are ESL teachers, with four of them being full-time and tenured.

All teachers must have a teaching credential in any subject with secondary English being the

most desired. Every teacher is given a laptop or Chromebook for personal use and are also given

a set of 30 tablets for their students to use in the classroom. Other access to technology varies

depending on location. The four main site campuses have access to smartboards and HBAS wifi

whereas not all satellite sites have smartboards and rely on wifi provided by their location. For

example, the teacher at DeMille Elementary School uses DeMille’s wifi.

Table 3 shows student perceptions of the technology given to the students.

Teachers have slightly different reactions to technology which will be explored in greater

detail in the Needs Analysis section. Teachers at the main sites (most of whom are full time)

utilize their smartboards and Chromebooks, but feel as if there is not much guidance as to how to
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use technology for more than simply displaying information. Teachers at the satellite sites have

often mentioned that their use of technology relies heavily on their infrastructure, as some sites

do not have reliable wifi or the Chromebooks students use do not function correctly. Not

surprisingly, the majority of teachers at the satellite sites mostly use printed documents and their

whiteboards for instruction. This is an issue the administration of HBAS is aware of and are

currently buying new Chromebooks for each of the sites, main and satellite.

Theoretical Introduction

The purpose of this plan is to help HBAS better understand the importance of technology

incorporation and to help teachers understand why everything provided to them is necessary for

the achievement of our students. In order to accomplish this goal, we must consider the research

on the topic. Hashmi, Inverso, & Korbin (2017) state, “making technology successful as a

learning tool is tantamount to the best traditional classroom learning: meaningful, relevant

experiences that require learners to focus on higher order thinking skills” (57). While teachers

should not forgo traditional classroom methods such as initiate-response teaching, technology

can be an equally important tool in encouraging critical thinking and reinforcement of language.

The challenge is understanding why teachers would be reluctant to use technology and then

discerning ways to fix the problems.

With technology becoming a widely-accepted necessity for classroom instruction, we

must consider why some teachers would prefer to rely on entirely traditional classroom

instruction. A traditional belief is that more experienced teachers tend to rely less on technology,

feeling that their lack of familiarity with it would prove damaging to students; newer teachers

(often more experienced with technology) would utilize it more. Interestingly, Bebell, O’Connor,

O’Dwyer, & Russel (2003) claim, “new teachers have significantly stronger beliefs about the

negative impacts of technology on student learning” (305). For our context then, we must not
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assume an “older” teacher is more reluctant to use technology. Instead, we should focus on

holistic use of technology, not a stratified view based on the age of the instructor. We will also

operate under the accepted belief that technology, in conjunction with appropriate pedagogical

skills, will enable our students to achieve second language acquisition and help them reach their

educational and employment goals. This belief is espoused by McClanahan (2014) who states,

“although technology does present its challenges, avoiding [technology] limits both students’ and

educators’ access to tools that can make English language learning more relevant to learners’

lives a bring a sense of living in the 21st century to our classrooms” (26). In fact, ignoring

technology could be detrimental to the students as the mission statement of HBAS revolves

around 21st century skills and employment. Researchers Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner

(2007) explored various reasons why ESL students would enroll in ESL classes at their local

adult school:

Hundreds of local, state, and national studies have asked adults their reasons for engaging

in educational pursuits. In most of these studies, respondents are presented with a list of

reasons why people might participate in organized learning activities and asked to

indicate which ones apply to them. Most respondents report multiple reasons. If asked to

indicate the ​main​ reason (as they were in the NCES surveys), however, they most

commonly cite job-related motives. (p. 62)

With one of the main goals of HBAS is to prepare students for the workplace after learning

English, we would be doing a great disservice to the students if we did not incorporate relevant

technology-related skills in our lessons.

Needs Analysis

In order to create a better focus for this professional development (PD) plan, I have

selected only the ESL teachers as my group of focus. I created a 10-question survey via Google
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Forms (​link to the form​) for teachers to answer, with some of the questions asking for

explanations of their answers. For example, one of the survey questions was to either click “yes”

or “no” for the statement, “I use technology on a regular basis.” The following question was,

“explain your answer to the previous question.” The survey was designed more for the teachers

to guide the direction the PD rather than rely on any of my assumptions. The final question was

regarding the best time for a PD, as the schedule of ESL teachers at HBAS is slightly different

from most K-12 settings. Teachers will teach either morning classes (8:00-11:00) or evening

classes (6:00-9:00) with only the full time teachers teaching both times. Since classes have to be

cancelled, I wanted to ensure the majority of teachers did not have to cancel a class to attend this

PD.

Huntington Beach Adult School was preparing for a WASC visit and teachers were

inundated with surveys at past PDs. As such, I decided to send out an email with the survey as a

link for teachers to complete at their own leisure. The teachers were given as much time as they

needed, but the survey was designed to take no longer than 10 minutes to complete, with the

deadline for completion being March 15, 2018. Not all teachers responded, but the majority did,

with 43 surveys being completed out of the total 55 ESL teachers at HBAS. All of the full time

teachers responded.

Upon reviewing the responses, it is clear that many teachers conceptually understand the

benefits of technology use, but do not feel there is much guidance in how to use it appropriately.

Image 4 shows how many of the teachers chose “agree” or “completely agree” for each of the

prompts from question 5 in the survey.

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While many of the ESL teachers at HBAS feel technology has many benefits for their classes,

very few use technology for more than simply displaying information; the majority of teachers

do not use technology for student creation (see the second bar in Image 4). Somewhat

corroborating Bebell et. al (2013), all of the full time teachers (being close to retirement age) felt

that technology had myriad benefits, while some of the part time teachers felt the opposite. When

asked to explain their responses, one teacher claimed, “I feel [technology] can help students, but

I don’t want to use it because so many of them do not have technology at home so they can’t

practice what I teach.” I was especially curious about the small percentage of teachers who have

students create rather than simply view on their tablets. Most of the responses were related to the

teachers’ views that ESL students will struggle too much with engagement because of the

language barrier; therefore, the plan for this PD will be centered around ways for teachers to use

technology for engagement and creation.

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Research Support for Goals

Adult educational theory is very similar to standard, K-12 educational theory. That is,

there is a heavy emphasis on students taking ownership of their own learning and educators

needing to create an engaging, rigorous, and welcoming environment for their students.

Additionally, educators need to keep updated on the evolution of technology and are being

encouraged to incorporate more technology-related skills in their curriculum. Teachers are

receiving training in tech use, but as Bebell et al. (2003) note, this training is not being utilized

inside of the classroom.

A substantial amount of use occurs outside of the classroom, particularly for preparation

and professional communication via e-mail. Based on this pattern, it seems that the skills

teachers have developed – whether through their own experiences, professional development, or

preservice training – may be leading to substantial use of technology outside of the classroom

but have had smaller effects on instructional uses in the classroom. (p. 302)

The inherent problem with this practice is that students are not receiving the full benefits

of a 21​st​-century classroom, especially with regard to Technological Pedagogical Content

Knowledge (TPACK). Essentially, TPACK is a practice that requires teachers to blend their

knowledge of their content and pedagogy with technology integration for an effective classroom.

Researchers (Bebel et al., 2003 & Heitink, M., Voogt, J., Verplanken, L., van Braak, J., & Fisser,

P., 2016) have noted that teachers find technology integration to be integral to the education of

their students, which is in agreement with the teachers at HBAS according to the needs analysis

survey. As such, this literature review provides educators with different ideas to bring

technology into (and out of) the classroom for the full benefit of the students’ second language

acquisition. After analyzing the available literature, two themes emerged: (1) benefits of

educational software, and (2) technology use in the classroom.

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Benefits of educational software.

Teachers are aware of the benefits of technology use in the classroom, but it helps to note

some specifics. How exactly has technology helped students? Bebell et al. (2003) mention that

there can be a mixed view on whether or not technology is helpful or harmful. Heitink et al.

(2016) conducted a study where they examined a variety of classroom’s technology use to

determine the authenticity of the teacher’s lessons in relationship with their use of technology. A

survey was first conducted where they found that the majority of teachers used computers for

information processing (e.g., Microsoft Word), web lectures, and drill and practice (p.78). What

should be noted is that, “less frequently observed types of curriculum were problem solving,

discovery learning and metacognitive strategies. However, where problem-solving activities or

metacognitive strategies were observed, teachers almost always used technology to support these

processes,” (Heitink et al., 2016, p. 78). Metacognitive practices are touted as being the most

effective practices in the classroom; using technology can help students in their second language

acquisition as long as metacognition and problem-solving are incorporated. In fact, two teachers

in Ketink et al.’s study described how they used educational software in their classroom. One

teacher used a digital picture story software where students had to create images and record their

voices as they “read” the story. “The teacher stimulated students to replay their spoken words

and listen to see whether the words are correct. She explained that: ‘by using technology students

can replay their own spoken words. Replay and listening to your own reading has a real added

value for students who are still learning to read” (p. 76). There is also a chance for quick

feedback, as one teacher used a drill and practice software with her class.

This makes it easier for students to work on the assignments independently. Along with

the individual feedback, the software provides teachers with color-coded feedback about the

progress of all the students. She explained: this way, one glance at my screen is enough to see
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which assignments students struggle with…I can stop the whole class in order to provide some

additional instruction for this particular assignment. (p. 76)

Not only can students individually benefit, but teachers can become more quickly aware

with what students need additional support.

What is important to note is that there should be a balance of tech use both inside and

outside of the classroom; in fact, a better approach would be for classes to be blended. A blended

classroom provides benefits aside from better test scores, such as: accommodation of learners’

flexible schedules and the possibility for asynchronous discussions (p. 57). Of course, this would

not be achieved overnight as there needs to be explicit and targeted modeling and scaffolding of

skills, but this would be an efficient end goal for HBAS.

Technology use in the classroom.

There is a great deal to be said about the theoretical benefits of technology in the

classroom. McClanahan (2014) states, “when we increase ESL learners’ familiarity with

technology and they develop tech skills, it can help to support their motivation to learn English.

Indeed, using technology in the classroom develops both job-related and communication-related

skills at the same time” (p. 23). Realistically, this may mean nothing without concrete examples

of tech use and results. As such, the second portion of this literature review will be focused on

specific examples of tech use (in a face-to-face and blended classroom).

In Wei, Chen, & Adawu’s (2014) study, technology was leveraged in two English

learner’s instructions to determine the level of language acquisition both gained. Writing and

graphic organizer software was incorporated in conjunction with tradition teaching. A writing

pre-test was given before the study and a post-test was given after the study to examine the

software’s impact on their learning. The two pieces of software were designed to help the

students “habitualize the use of planning and organizing strategies in their pre-writing process,”
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which, when students reflected on their experience said, “the graphic feature in the program

created more fun in planning and organizing their ideas” (p. 67). Additionally, the students were

required to exercise their metacognitive abilities with these two pieces of software. The results

showed:

First, their writing performance has improved from the pretest to the posttest, particularly

in their ability to generate ideas and organize essays. Second, their abilities to brainstorm and

generate concept maps with the writing software have also improved through time. Finally, they

have become more engaged in using planning and organizing strategies. (p. 66)

Ideally, writing and planning software could be used at HBAS on a much smaller scale

for beginning level students and at this same level for the more advanced students. Combined

with traditional teaching, not only would students’ writing improve, but their engagement with

learning would as well.

Of course, educational software does not necessarily have to only be drill and practice or

word processing. In fact, Chen (2016) found that students could easily acquire second language

skills in a blended approach using video games. Specifically, she observed students using the

video game ​Second Life​ (SL) as a supplemental material to their traditional classroom

experience. Students were expected to create avatars that represented them and take students on a

virtual tour of their home country. Not only were students engaged with the material because

they were able to discuss what they know, they were able to practice English in real-time. “As

such, SL bolsters learner engagement and participation as opposed to students simply [looking]

at pictures in a textbook or on slide presentations in a traditional class setting” (Chen, 2016, p.

154). This engaging activity as well as its appreciation for the students’ culture led to students

being motivated to improve their communication skills (p. 162). In fact, students’ language skills

improved. As Chen describes, “the [English as a foreign language] students’ language

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acquisition was enhanced by the rich input available in the [digital countries] they visited. Their

oral proficiency was also improved by interacting with other residents in English” (p. 164).

Indeed, the ways in which educational software can be used for collaboration is equally

as important as the content within it; however, choosing a software arbitrarily will not always

lead to student learning and engagement. Lasagabaster and Sierra (2003) in their study,

“Students Evaluations of CALL Software Programs” noted that:

The lack of interaction [in non-ideal software] was another complaint clearly stated by

the participants. Although much of the software claims to display interactive activities, students

did not fully appreciate the value. They basically missed contact with another person in order to

establish authentic communication, and even underlined certain notes of derision when talking to

the machine: ​You may feel as a fool talking to a machine​ (student 50). (p. 301)

SL allowed students to collaborate and be engaged. Collaboration is important for student

engagement, which ultimately leads to improvements in second language acquisition. One

software Lasagabaster and Sierra found to be successful was ​Tell Me More​ because of its

usability. Students found it easy to use and benefited from its implementation in the classroom

(p. 297). As such, choosing a software for HBAS must provide students with a pedagogically

appropriate education in terms of content, but should also be easy to use and allow for

collaboration and engagement to be successful.

Summary.

This literature review was designed to introduce the staff of HBAS to the benefits of

technology use as well as to provide a simply guideline to actually implementing software, with

the two main themes being (1) benefits of educational software and (2) technology use in the

classroom. If Bebell et al. (2003) is to be believed, we cannot assume that teachers are fully

reluctant to technology use in the classroom, especially since researchers (Chen, 2016,
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Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2003, & Wei et al., 2014) have shown that students will improve their

English through rigorous content and engagement. We cannot expect an overnight change, but

we must endeavor to combine technology with traditional classroom practices for the benefit of

our students.

Professional Development Models

The professional development planned for the year will be very much like how teachers

teach: very little direct instruction and more time for the attendees to practice using the tools and

sites provided to them. Since the majority of my colleague teach ESL, I will be focussing more

on websites and technology geared more towards helping English learners from levels 1 to 4.

Teachers will be broken up by grade level for some sessions and for others, they will be mixed

together.

Planning Professional Development

According to my needs analysis survey conducted, the majority of the teachers at HBAS

feel that technology has many benefits in the classroom; however, many of these teachers

struggle with implementation for a variety of reasons. While there are issues with students not

necessarily having technology in their homes with which to practice what they learn in class, the

main issue seems to be that teachers are more concerned with the language barrier on top of

trying to use technology. As such, the PD will revolve around easy to use and engaging activities

students can use with their tablets provided by the school. Some of the tools taught during the PD

will be more centered around student engagement and others will involve some form of student

creation.

We will start off the PD year mainly with a discussion of the importance of incorporating

technology into our curriculum, looking specifically at our mission statement. This will also be a
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chance for teachers to verbalize their frustrations, concerns, etc. about implementing tech. I will

be asking for teachers to share what they have done in the past, whether it worked or did not. In

fact, it would be equally beneficial for the attendees to hear about technology plans not working.

After the initial meeting, we will spend the second half of the first PD looking at newsela.com.

This is an easy to use website teachers can implement in their lesson plans weekly. Future PDs

will be spent discussing new pieces of technology and websites teachers can experiment with as

well as time for sharing success and failure stories from the past PD to the current.

Goals

The goals of this ongoing PD are: (1) increase the number of teachers who use

technology regularly in their curriculum, (2) increase the amount of time spent having students

engaged and creating with technology, (3) demonstrate new ways teachers can use their

computers in their classes with students, (4) use technology to help students prepare for CASAS

testing, and (5) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and plan before implementing new

technology.

Timeline

We will start the PD in February 2018, taking a break during the summer months and

continuing into the next school year. Professional developments will be monthly unless time is

not available due to other obligations such as district meetings and other planned PDs. More

detailed descriptions of the plans will be in the overview section.

Table 1
Monthly Outline, February 2018 - February 2019

February 2018

● Conduct needs analysis survey and analyze the results

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● Begin compiling research and examining websites and tools teachers can use during the

PDS

● Gain approval from administration for PDs

● Examine calendar to determine exact dates of PDs

● Send the following letter for colleagues to read:

March 2018

● Newsela.com

● Current events in the classroom

April 2018

● Screencast-o-Matic

May 2018
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● Elcivics.com

June 2018 - August 2018

● No PD planned due to summer recess

September 2018

● A4esl.org

October 2018

● writecomics.com

November 2018

● Maythings.org

December 2018

● Tutorials

January 2018

● Grammar wikis

February 2018

● Esl-lab.com

● Final discussion

Professional Development Plan Overview

Below is a more detailed description of the PD plans.

Table 2
Description of the PDs

Month Topic/format Person responsible Evaluation

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Monthly Coffee and small snacks Me Chance at the

Tablets for collaboration and Teachers beginning of each
practice Administration session to teachers to
Teacher reflection and discussions discuss anything from
previous sessions
they have tried or to
provide chances to
introduce materials
not covered in my
own plans

March Newsela.com Me Teachers will

Discussion of how incorporating Teachers of all grade complete survey at
real life occurrences into the levels working end of session.
classroom improves English together
How to facilitate discussion after By April, teachers
students have manipulated the will submit a padlet
article on newsela and completed discussing how the
the provided activities used newsela.com in
their classroom.

April (2 Screencast-o-matic Me Ticket-out-the-door

hour Overview of the free product
PD) Explanation of how to use it with
students level 1 to level 4
Teachers separated Teachers will create a
by grade level for screencast where they
practice and discuss their plans for
discussion of how to how to use it in future
use screencasting in lessons. Since testing
their classroom is coming up soon, I
do not expect much
practice with
screencasting to be
done immediately.

May Elcivics.com Me Teachers will provide

Since students are expected to Teachers in mixed a free write of their
complete civics units in each grade level groups thoughts on
quarter, we will be using this with administration elcivics.com.
website to demonstrate how taking part
teachers can incorporate
technology into their civics
lessons.
Teachers will go over the website
and discuss ways they can scaffold
the material, either making it more
accessible for lower level students
or more difficult for advanced
students. Administration will be
present to help discuss as well.
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Sept. Online PD Grade level teachers Padlet reflection and

Teachers will be given time to discussion of what
browse a4esl.org and submit via teachers used by
Google Form sections they feel October
would be useful to use based on
grade level. For example, level 1
teachers will compile a list of
activities they feel is beneficial for
level 1 students. After compiling
all of their submissions, I will
create a list of ideal activities
based on grade level.

Oct. Writecomics.com Me Share student

Here, we will continue to discuss Teachers by grade examples by
the importance of student creation level November.
now that the students have had a
few months to get used to the
general aspects of their tablets.
Teachers by grade level will
discuss topics their students will
think of when creating their own
comic strip. The site is easy to use
to make simple comic strips.

Nov. Online PD Grade level by Padlet reflection and

Much like September, teachers teachers discussion of what
will be given a chance to browse teachers used by
manythings.org and compile a list December.
about which activities they feel
would be best for teachers within
their grade level.

Dec. Tutorials Teachers Google survey

Teachers will be broken up by
grade level and go over what
students will need to master by the
time the next round of CASAS
testing arrives. Teachers will then
have this time to plan lessons
where their students create small,
easy tutorials based on the topics
decided by the teachers. ​Note: the
topic of this PD may be switched
depending on other planned PDs
and end of the semester
schedules.

Jan. Grammar wikis Me Google survey

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Brief introduction to wikis and Teachers by grade

how they are beneficial for level
students
Teachers will then be broken up
by grade level and determine what
themes they would like for their
student-created wikis. For
example, level 1 teachers may
want to focus more on the
foundations of grammar, with their
wiki sections focussing
specifically on parts of speech,
examples, etc. whereas level 4
teachers may want to focus on
citizenship or other elements of
American life.

Feb. Esl-lab.com - Twitter Teachers Padlet video

Teachers will use Twitter to tweet reflection and Twitter
one activity from esl-lab that they comments
will use or would like to use in
their classroom.
They will also tweet about their
final perceptions of tech use in
their class.

Budget

Every website and tool chosen for these PDs are free and easy to use. As such, the budget

will mainly comprise of providing compensation to teachers for face-to-face meetings and food

as necessary. There is the option to buy a subscription for newsela.com, but I would not

recommend it for our needs at HBAS.

Table 3
Budget

Coffee and snacks $360

6 X $60 ($10 per person for 6 months)

Compensation for teachers, estimation based on availability of teachers: $8,840

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6 sessions X 30 teachers X $42 (hourly wage) + $42 X 30 for April’s

two hour session

Newsela subscription ​(optional) $6,000

Total $8,840 -
$14,840

Professional Development Session

This PD took place on April 23, 2018 at HBAS. This face-to-face meeting was centered

around using screencasting in the classroom for all levels. An agenda was handed out to the

participants as they signed in. We opened up the class with me going over what screencasting is

and providing an example of how I used it in the past for my students at Chula Vista Learning

Community Charter High School. I mostly spent time discussing why screencasting is so vital.

The Google Slide presentation I used for this PD is linked ​here​. This discussion and example

provided took up thirty-five minutes of the scheduled time. Afterwards, the teachers were broken

up into groups as described in the planning section and began navigating the free website,

https://screencast-o-matic.com/​. While there is an option to pay for larger amounts of screencast

time, I instructed the staff that it is unnecessary for our purposes and students would not be

creating videos longer than 5-10 minutes in length.

Teachers had to main objectives for their allotted hour to spend with the product: (1)

teachers had to produce a screencast that they would share with their students and (2) create a

lesson plan where they would be able to teach their students how to use the website. For

objective 1, teachers were given free reign to decide what screencast they would create. The

groups decided on a topic, planned out their script and visuals, and began recording (in different

spaces to avoid noise interference). Objective 2 was a little more individual, as the teachers know
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their students best and were able to curtail their lessons that best suited the needs of their own

students. While the groups were working with the website, I was walking from group to group

checking on their progress and seeing if they had any questions. Most groups only had minor

issues. One group was unable to record audio correctly as the microphone function on their

laptop was not working appropriately. I added to them that students may have these issues with

their own tablets and that it might be a good idea to ask to borrow a class set of headsets from the

staff room.

After the hour, we had twenty-five minutes left of the PD. I called on groups to present

their completed (albeit roughly completed) screencasts to the class. We then offered constructive

feedback. In one presentation, the speakers were not enunciating the way they would in the

classroom. One teacher pointed this out and stated that the level 1 and 2 students in the

presenter’s class may have a hard time following the rapid dialogue. All groups created

screencasts about grammar rules, which was interesting since I gave no real restrictions about the

content of their screencast. I had originally planned for a final wrap-up, but with two groups

volunteering their screencasts and class feedback on them, we ran out of time. Instead, I had staff

add any other questions, comments, or concerns to their tickets-out-the-door, which originally

only had the one question: how do you see yourself using screencasting in your classroom?

Reflection on the Two Hour Session

As a teacher myself, I usually have found PDs to be massively unnecessary; I would

much rather spend my time at a PD working rather than listening to someone speak, much like

students in our classrooms. As such, I endeavored to make the PD time for teachers to create and

experiment rather than listen to me talk for the allotted time. For it being my first PD, I feel there

were elements that went really well and elements I need to improve upon. Starting with the

philosophy surrounding screencasts and my own created project I think showed my colleagues
TECHNOLOGY IN ADULT ENGLISH 24

that I am not simply speaking some bureaucratic nonsense, but that I actually practice these tools

in my own teaching and know their benefits. Perhaps in the future I will make this PD an online

PD, as, upon reflection, two hours may not have been enough time for teachers to fully practice

using screencasting.

Evaluation

I wanted this PD session’s evaluation to be much more informal and quick so my

colleagues would be able to immediately express their thinking. While there would not be time

for me to address their feedback at the end of this PD session, I would be able to take their

criticisms and comments and apply them to my next PD session in May to ensure I do not make

the same mistakes and keep the positive elements. Based on the teachers’ tickets-out-the-door, I

was able to analyze progress on the five goals I had for my overall year long PD. Below is a

graph with the goals and what (if anything) was related to the goals after the two hour PD

session.

Goal Feedback (if applicable)

Increase the number of teachers who use Teachers, based on their tickets, plan on using
technology regularly in their curriculum screencasting in their classrooms, though
there will need to be more updating in the
future as to how consistent they are.

Increase the amount of time spent having
students engaged and creating with
technology
Teachers felt that screencasting would be a
great way for students to create something.
They feel it would give their students a sense
of ownership, though many teachers still feel
that this might be a bit too difficult for lower
level ESL students.

Demonstrate new ways teachers can use their Teachers for level 3 and 4 students responded
computers in their classes with students that they feel more comfortable
experimenting with technology after this
lesson. Level 1 and 2 teachers still are unsure.

Use technology to help students prepare for This goal will be better met for websites and
CASSPP testing tools that focus solely on grammar
instruction. Teachers will either complete
TECHNOLOGY IN ADULT ENGLISH 25

Google Surveys or participate in Padlet

discussions.

Provide opportunities for teachers to practice Teachers were appreciative of the extra time
and plan before implementing new given to experiment with the technology and
technology plan out lessons.

Reflection

Professional developments have always been a source of frustration for me. At times,

they provide excellent strategies and resources; at other times, they are egregious wastes of time.

After being given the opportunity to plan out a PD, I can say with utmost certainty that I learned

how challenging creating a year-long PD is. Of course, this revelation also comes with some

negatives. It will also be much easier to identify a PD that was hastily organized and presented.

Spending time looking at resources, organizing them into a presentation with various external

elements (budgeting, approval from administration, time, etc.) and planning the actual

presentation itself has shown me that PDs are exactly like lesson planning for students. A lesson

planned on the way to school in the morning will fail, much like a PD that was planned briefly

before meeting with staff. I have actually been reflecting on past PDs I attended at my

workplaces and am able to identify which ones had obvious planning and which ones were not.

Knowing this, I will be much more encouraged to fully plan PDs for my colleagues in the future,

as I would not want them to feel their time is being wasted.

As for the school itself, researching HBAS has given me a new appreciation for adult

schooling. I knew there were many different facets in adult school, but the logistics surrounding

the different departments is impressive. Of course, this comes with challenges for my PD.

Teachers for HBAS are paid hourly, meaning taking their schedules into consideration is

probably the most important factor in developing this PD. Teachers cannot be forced to go to a
TECHNOLOGY IN ADULT ENGLISH 26

PD if the PD itself is not 3 hours (teachers at HBAS teach in 3 hour blocks); we cannot have

teachers cancel a class and make less money for doing so (the PDs above would not take 3 hours

each). The budget is almost entirely centered around paying teachers for their time, as teachers’

pay for HBAS is not predictable. The biggest obstacle to this PD would be finding the money to

pay teachers for extra time if we do not want them to cancel their classes. For example, a teacher

at HBAS may teach from 8:30 - 11:30 in the morning. We could not cancel this class for a 1-2

hour PD, as that teacher would be making less money than if he or she were teaching. At the

same time, we cannot expect the teacher to attend a PD after their scheduled work time without

compensating them. Whether or not we can compensate is based on the money we have in the

budget which may or may not be available.

Despite the challenges, I feel this PD will have many benefits. Based on the needs survey,

teachers for HBAS believe technology has many benefits, but the teachers still do not use it on a

regular basis. I feel this plan will give them great exposure to and practice with different easy

and free sites and tools they can use. If I were to change anything, I would probably want to

make this whole PD an online module. That would alleviate concerns about planning times for

these PDs, but that would also mean compensation would be challenging. Overall, I would say I

have a newfound respect for the PD process and am looking forward to implementing future PDs

for any school I am employed at in the future.

TECHNOLOGY IN ADULT ENGLISH 27

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