Distanced Professional Education to Support Instructional Technology: A Cost Effective Necessity Shawn M. Cressler December 2012

The Problem Faculty and Staff at all levels of instruction in Highlands School District are not utilizing the numerous technology resources available to them.

Prevailing Conditions $860 million cut from the state education in As a result: Information Technology (IT) staff has dwindled to 3 technicians for 5 buildings Technology Coaches are teaching full time and can no longer offer support to instructors Fractured communication between administrators, faculty, and IT Staff

Resulting Circumstances Faculty and staff are not utilizing technology resources. They are: Unaware Untrained Unsure

A Solution Distanced education maybe be employed as a low cost means to provide technology instruction and support to Highlands’ faculty and staff. Highlands already conducts distance education for students Technology teachers and faculty have the necessary skills to develop the curriculum Instruction can focus on resources Highlands already possesses.

What does research say about Technology Professional Development ? Without a plan technology becomes expensive office supplies (Gordon, 2010). We need to move beyond “here it is, here’s how you turn it on (Wright, 2010).” In-service training results in an increased command of technology (Guzman & Nussbaum, 2009).

What does research say about online education? Efficacy There is “no significant difference” between traditional and distanced educational achievement (Russell, 1999) Students in online courses learn just as much as face to face counterparts Online education offers flexible participation (Atkinson & O’Connor, 2007)

What does research say about online education? Costs Online learning technology has matured (Smith & Mitry, 2008) Allows access to information and offers increased productivity (Pang, 2009) Purdue University achieved distance education with limited resources (Roberts, 2008)

Proposal Goals Faculty and staff will enroll in and successfully complete the Distanced Professional Development Program Faculty and staff will increase their use of targeted technology resources Faculty and staff will be able to use targeted technology resources autonomously

Proposal Objectives 1. Participating staff and faculty members given access to course materials, activities, and communication with instructors will complete 100% of the Distanced Education Development Program

Proposal Objectives 2. Participating faculty and staff upon completion of the course activities will provide a thoughtful written assessment of the course which will include the following: a review of no less than two learning activities, an assessment student engagement, overall satisfaction and suggestions for improvement.

Proposal Objectives 3. Participating faculty and staff will after completing the Distanced Professional Development Course, integrate target technology resources into at least 60% of all classroom activities.

Proposal Objectives 4. Participating faculty and staff will after completing the Distanced Professional Development Course, be able to with 100% accuracy demonstrate all the features and functions of the targeted technologies and complete basic troubleshooting tasks when presented with simulated errors or malfunctions.

The Proposal 1. Analysis 2. Design/Planning 3. Development 4. Implementation 5. Evaluation6. Revision Using the Instructional System Design Process Highlands School District can create and deploy a distanced professional development program

Phase 1: Analysis Formation of a Distanced Professional Development Committee Volunteer Teachers Technology Trainers/Coaches IT Staff members Administrators Will conduct a needs analysis Technology resources on hand Skills required

Phase 2: Design/Planning Design and planning of the courses Data from Phase 1 will help the committee to select which resources to focus on. Outline a budget Identify specific learning goals Generate a detailed outline of the courses Activities Learning materials Assessments Timelines

Phase 2: Budget Tentative Budget for the Distanced Professional Development Course: Item Description Estimated Funding Requirements Committee Cost Committee members will be paid current curriculum rate, $23.50/hour for time spent on course development, implementation and management. $10, Course Instructor Stipend Current estimates indicate with the current class size and pace teachers will need to devote 36 – 40 hours to the course. $ Moodle Hosting The Distanced Professional Development course will require server space to host it. The district already maintains a dedicated Learning Management System server. An additional instance of Moodle will need to be created by the IT staff $0.00 Hardware and Infrastructure Investments Access to computers, equipment and the internet will be required to develop and offer the course to faculty and staff. $0.00 Software Investments To develop the resources and materials required for the course will require access to a wide variety of media/content creation software. $1, Media Creation Certain pieces of media or materials needed to implement this course may be beyond the scope of the committee members or the district to create or provide $3, Estimated Total: $18.000

Phase 3: Development Committee members will create and collect the materials outlined in Phase 2. Learning materials Literature Media resources Conduct small scale testing of activities and assessments with a group of volunteer teachers

Phase 4: Implementation Open enrollment for interested teachers at all grade levels 2 courses 2 sections 12 – 15 students per section 48 – 60 participants total 9 weeks to complete the courses September to mid - November weeks to turn in post course feedback and reflection

Phase 5: Evaluation Evaluation of the course will follow the AEIOU Model (Simonson, et al., 2009). Accountability Effectiveness Impact Organizational Context Unanticipated Consequences

Phase 6: Revision Changes to based in the findings of the AEIOU assessment model Goals Effectiveness Learning Outcomes Activities Impact Unanticipated Consequences

Thank you for your attention Shawn M Cressler 2012

References Atkinson, T. S., & O’Connor, K. A. (2007). Establishing professional development partnerships online: Reaching out to veteran teachers. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 51(3), Gordon, D. (2011). Return to sender. T.H.E. Journal, 38(3), Guzman, A. A., & Nussbaum, M. M. (2009). Teaching competencies for technology integration in the classroom. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25(5), Pang, K. (2009). Video-driven multimedia, web-based training in the corporate sector: Pedagogical equivalence and component effectiveness. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3). Roberts, C. (2008). Implementing educational technology in higher education: A strategic approach. Journal of Educators Online, 5(1). Russell, T. L. (1999). No significant difference phenomenon, Raleigh, N.C., North Carolina State University. Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M., & Zvacek, S. (2011). Teaching and learning at a distance, foundations of distance education. (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Smith, D. E., & Mitry, D. J. (2008). Investigation of higher education: The real costs and quality of online programs. Journal of Education For Business, 83(3), Wright, V. H. (2010). Professional development and the master technology teacher: The evolution of one partnership. Education, 131(1),