Washington Staff Development
Location: Videoconferencing is being used for various aspects of Staff Development across the K-20 Network in the State of Washington.
Description
Using the K20 system to connect, many schools and ESD's are conducting
one-time and on-going staff development opportunities for teachers and
administrators. These sessions are used to discuss teaching methods,
instructional projects, state assessment strategies, and just how to use this
new technology in ways that enhance professional work and K-12 teaching and
learning.
Source Note
The information here was collected in May of 1999 in the Kent School District,
Kent, Washington, at ESD 113 in Olympia, and in Aberdeen. These narratives were
transcribed from those interviews, and cover Access and Benefits.
Those interviewed include:
Diana Eggers Teacher, Kent School District Kent, WA; Anne McGlone Teacher on Special Assignment Kent School District, Kent, WA; Tita Mallory Teacher Mentor Technology Infusion Project Olympia, WA
Debra Hale Teacher,Educational Service District 112 Olympia, WA; Liz Brown Teacher, Grand Mound Elementary School Rochester, WA; Russ Surridge Principal, Grand Mound Elementary School Rochester, WA
Access: Improving the use of technology
Eggers, Teacher: "It's kind of funny as we do the different projects and the staff development classes you can always tell that the one's who are new to this are always very nervous, and say, 'Can you hear me, can you hear me?' and I think just getting at ease with it, that it is generally going to work, and it's not something that is going to break and to try anything. Go ahead and try it out, participate in some projects, just get your feet wet, get in there, because I think that as soon as people start doing it, they see that it is not really that big of a deal in terms of understanding how it works."
McGlone, Teacher: "The staff development class that we designed actually has a two-fold purpose. Initially we want the teachers to feel comfortable with the equipment so that they have the confidence that they can make a call and connect with other classrooms. Secondly, we want to give them ideas on what types of projects they can do with this and how to successfully implement this project. We want to provide the different resources they need and how to connect with other teachers as well as just some steps or clues as to how to implement and facilitate this.
"For this first time we were teaching about videoconferencing and actually taught it through videoconferencing. This was a distance learning class about videoconferencing. People are used to looking at monitors and not necessarily used to being interactive, so it's almost like when you first learned about teaching and there were discussions about going from the chalkboard to the overhead and using different things to keep the students' attention. That's even increased more when you use videoconferencing because you really want people to feel as if they're a part of this class, and so right from the beginning you want to make sure that somehow they have interacted with you. Just through introductions or sharing you know their goals that they'd like to get out of this course."
"It is really exciting being able to teach a class to people all across the state. We have nine different sites connecting to us and teachers from all different walks of life. I do think how we are going to measure the success of the projects that they actually develop. They're going to get a chance to plan projects with other participants in the class and they're actually going to be submitting these and posting these on our web page so everybody will get to see the projects that they've done. And they're also going to report back on how they're going to implement that project. I think our biggest factor of success is going to see how the teachers feel comfortable with this videoconferencing and to actually see the projects that they've designed."
Mallory, Teacher: "A teacher who's just getting into videoconferencing needs to understand how vc works. They should perhaps sit in on a videoconference, participate, or even be a part of a class, such as a staff development class where they can see videoconferencing in action."
Benefits
Hale, Teacher: "One of the best parts is saving gas, you know, to various meetings with colleagues around the state. It's much easier to bring up a videoconference and focus in for an hour or two on a meeting idea or for some collaboration. We have 37 TIP (Technology Infusion Project) classrooms across the state in our TIP 2000 project. One of the key things that we do in TIP is the staff development portion. Not everyone has the videoconferencing and so some go to magnet sites for county regions. The Washington State K-20 backbone gives districts the chance to hook up. In a very short time every district in our state will be connected and that's really going to bring us together...the potential is great!
"One of the things we are talking about with schools is that the ideas that someone already has that are good need to be broadcast. Teachers who already have some ideas need to communicate those ideas to other teachers. Videoconferencing is perfect for this. Either conveying those ideas, collaborating with someone else, or doing some kind of a symposium...those all work. We don't have all the answers but we need to keep using the technology for professional improvement."
"This is also a matter of communicating with others, getting to know each other to create cultural understanding, that is where videoconferencing can be a great tool, to enhance the bridges between cultures and races and try to eliminate walls."
Brown, Teacher: "The TIP teachers, some in Olympia and others in Aberdeen, have used videoconferencing to conference between the two sets of teachers so that we can get together more easily and discuss our ideas and experiences that we've had with technology. A teacher, a mentor usually, has an idea for curriculum instructional help or technical support we have needed help with. It is more of a hands-on experience for us all.
"I'd really recommend taking a basic class, finding out the different issues on recording and clothing, and the principle behind how the equipment works and crossing your fingers that there is a technician who will actually do the running and the setting up for you. Make sure there are plenty of opportunities to truly interact with the technology AND the other teachers. Ask questions. Build a chance for interaction with the technician, the technology and the other people."
Surridge, Elementary/Jr. High Principal: "In this district I wear many hats and one of them is the assessment coordinator. I have used videoconferencing, but since we don't have it in the district yet, we have had to go up to the ESD in Olympia. We took part in the videoconferencing at ESD 113 around the state on the new state assessment. That was very successful, in my opinion, because many of the questions that we had were asked by colleagues around Washington and they were answered for us. We are still twenty miles from Olympia, but videoconferencing from the ESD gives us a chance to compare notes and to find out what's working and what's not from others across the state."