The world of technology is vast and changing constantly. It seems almost impossible to keep up with every new app, update, and piece of tech that comes out. This is no different in the world of education. There seems to be a new website or application introduced daily to help students and or teachers. New pieces of equipment, ViewSonic Panels, tablets, digital textbooks, are brought into the room constantly for teachers to begin incorporating into their educational practices. The culmination of this persistence of integrating and staying current on the latest educational technology, and the trends that come along with it, can be quite overwhelming for many educators. To make matters more challenging, districts often lack in providing their staff with professional development opportunities in this area.
A study on the impact of educational technology on teacher stress and anxiety found one of the top "stressors or factors associated with teachers’ stress and anxiety due to the use of educational technology…are mainly focused on the lack of training and education in technology (50%)"(Fernández-Batanero et. al., 2021). This doesn't seem to be just a national issue but a global one. "The Promethean State of Technology in Education UKI Report found that over 64 percent of U.K. educators were dissatisfied with the training they received; only 15 percent believed they had received satisfactory training in edtech" (Kologrivaya & Shleifer, 2022). According to Frazier and Hearrington (2017), "providing successful professional development containing research-based structural and instructional processes" is one of the major responsibilities of the technology coordinator (p.15). After reading the percentage of teachers who feel they have been given a lack of training and education on technology and reading that this falls under the responsibilities of the technology coordinator, I begin to wonder are our technology coordinators ignorant to opportunities for professional development available, are there not many opportunities for professional development available to offer, or do these coordinators simply not realize they should be seeking our these opportunities and making them known to the educators under their leadership?
Looking at the available opportunities for professional development on education technology, I don't believe the lack of professional development that is available is the issue. The U.S. Department of Education's office of educational technology's website offers several professional learning opportunities along with many other organizations who offer conferences, online zoom training, and self-paced professional development. After seeing all that is available, I truly think the root of the problem is that technology coordinators are expected to do so much trouble shooting with technology in their schools, their many other responsibilities as well as the wealth of knowledge they have to offer gets overlooked. Technology coordinators seem to be stretched thin, just like so many in the world of education now, that some of their duties get swept away.
I hope with the surge of technology in the world of education becoming more and more, professional development will increase in importance in the eyes of the higher ups as well as the technology coordinators so that educators can be made more aware of opportunities for learning as well as encouraged to increase their knowledge in this area by attending these opportunities. Unfortunately, it may come down to being driven and devoted enough as an educator wanting to better themselves by seeking out opportunities for themselves. Below is a video from an educator explaining her feelings of frustration with the professional development dilemma that I believe so many educators feel as well and an opportunity any educator can take advantage of to help them in this area.
References
Fernández-Batanero, J.-M., Román-Graván, P., Reyes-Rebollo, M.-M., & Montenegro-Rueda, M. (2021). Impact of Educational Technology on Teacher Stress and Anxiety: A Literature Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(2), 548. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020548
Frazier, M., & Hearrington, D. (2017). The Technology Coordinator’s Handbook, Third Edition (3rd ed.). Eugene:
International Society for Tech in Ed.
Kologrivaya, K., & Shleifer, E. (2022, April 15). Teachers aren’t getting enough training on
technology. it’s a global problem. - edsurge news. EdSurge.
https://www.edsurge.com/news/2022-04-15-teachers-aren-t-getting-enough-training-on-te
chnology-it-s-a-global-problem
Hey Allison, I enjoyed reading your blog. Quality professional development is definitely needed to ensure that teachers are comfortable and confident with using technology in the classroom. One of the issues with technology is how quickly it changes and evolves. Due to this fact, schools must build capacity in order to provide continuous professional development so that teachers are able to keep up with best practices in and outside of the classroom regarding the use of technology.
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