How should ed tech training be done?
Training manual, by Terry Freedman
If you are responsible for the ed tech/Computing/ICT training in your school, here are a few issues which you might like to consider.
Who is going to deliver the training? It doesn't have to be you or an outside expert. One of your colleagues might be able and willing to do so. I've had pupils giving training, and the teachers loved it because it was so effective for them.
Does training always have to take place as an extra-curricular activity? Doesn't that discriminate against colleagues who are paid by the hour? Since the training they enjoy will benefit the school (one hopes), should they not be paid to attend it?
Does training always have to take place after school? After all, that discriminates against colleagues with family commitments. How about lunchtime sessions as well? I don't think there is an ideal time for training or a foolproof answer to this type of concern, but I think it's important to try and be as flexible as possible.
Does all training have to take place 'live'? If you were to video your training sessions, the recordings could be made available for colleagues to access in their own time.
The same goes for screencasts. Why not create a series of short screencasts to cover the basic aspects of applications which are commonly used in the school? I ought to say that I made a load of screencasts once for this purpose, and as far as I could tell, nobody looked at them: they preferred to ask me instead. I like to think, though, that knowing there were screencasts available made them feel less insecure about trying things.
Does training have to take place in school or a teacher development centre? How about a team visit to an exhibition? I have organised some great visits for teachers to work places where technology is used.If such days are planned and organised well, they can be really effective professional development.
Does all training or professional development have to be organised? What about taking part in online discussions? What about making the technology available and allowing people to use it how they see fit, or simply to explore it?
Looking at your team as a whole (or yourself if you don't have a team), what are your most pressing training needs? Where are the gaps in your knowledge or skill set? How and when can you start to address this?
On the subject of training, I’ve just completed a series of articles on my best IT training days, and have almost completed a series about my worst ones. I’ll be collating those articles for subscribers to my newsletter, Digital Education.