Effective Projects Case Study

Communications Technnology Teacher Training or ICT3 at Exeter Region Cooperative School District

www.sau16.org

This is a story about a project that started 1/1/2007.

For more information, please contact: Steve Kossakoski at skossakoski@sau16.org.

A consortium of schools including all SAU 16 school plus the Great Bay eLearning Charter School used Title IID-E2T2 funds to address the need to continue to integrate the use of 21st century learning tools into the curriculum in order to address the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) standards.  Our plan was to strengthen the capacity of each school to deliver high quality professional development in each school by training a cohort of teachers to become ICT trainers and mentors.  This project was known as Information and Communications Technnology Teacher Training or ICT3.

Funding: This project was supported by $20,000 from NCLB Title II-D (Educational Technology) and $9,000 in local funds. The project illustrates how federal funding supports “Professional development through teacher leaders - Preparing one or more teachers in schools as tech leaders to assist other teachers.” The project addressed the following grades and content areas: 

PreK-2 Gr3-5  Gr6-8  Gr9-12  EngLangArts  Math  Science  SocSt  TheArts 

The Setting: Each of the schools in SAU 16 have been working toward integrating the use of technology into the curriculum.  However, as in most schools, there is a great deal of work to do before we will be effectively using 21st century learning tools in all classes and disciplines. The ICT3 project will address the need for on-site professional development and mentoring for the teachers in our schools.

The plot: The planning phase of this project went smoothly.  Administrative support was exemplary which accounted for much of the success. The most often reported challenge has been to find the time to meet with teachers to provide training and mentoring services.  Our mentors have become very creative at recruiting teachers and offering to meet with them during times that meet teachers' needs.

The teachers: 118 teachers were directly involved. The teachers who applied to become our mentors are first, outstanding teachers and, second, early adopters who are excited about learning to use technology tools in a manner that enhances learning. This project would not be successful without their excitement and commitment.

The students: Mentors worked with teachers at all grade levels and/or disciplines. Mentors provided assistance in both the development of effective technology integration skills and in the use of appropriate technology hardware and software.

The data: We collected pre and post intervention opinion data from teachers who were trained and/or coached by mentors.

The difference: 1.  Small group and one-on-one professional development sessions were reported as very helpful to teachers in learning how to use various software applications.  2.  We did not see a significant shift in the amount of time that teachers spent using technology with students after participating in this project.  Mentors also reported that it was difficult to spend time discussing the integration of technology into lessons with teachers who were not confident in their technological abilities.  3.  We found that although many teachers did not increase the frequency of the use of technology, they reported that they were already making use of  technology tools in their classrooms (frequency varied greatly).  4.  The requirement for schools to implement digital portfolios has created a great deal of anxiety for teachers as well as an increased demand for professional development. We solicited anecdotal data from teachers, mentors, and administrators which confirmed that this project has helped teachers to improve their use of technology in the classroom.  Discussions about this project also confirmed that teachers are concerned about the mandate to implement digital portfolios.  Topics of concern include: time, professional development, and having sufficient technological resources for the creation of artifacts.

Essential conditions: The essential conditions included support from all administrators, funding (both grant and local), and the recruitment of mentors who were technologically proficient and understood how technology could be used in the classroom.

Changes for the future: 1.  More emphasis on helping mentors to assist teachers with designing lessons that integrate the use of appropriate technology tools.    2.  Additional time for mentors to meet and discuss challenges and successes would be help mentors to continue their development.  3.  We would also use an online survey tool to gather data from participants on a regular basis so that we could make changes to the program, as needed, to meet the needs of teachers. 1.  We would redesign the instrument to elicit feedback on why teachers are, or are not, using technology in the classroom.  Additionally, we would ask how mentors could best assist teachers with their professional growth.    2.  In addition to the pre and post intervention data we would collect more "stories from the field" to enhance the collected data.  We would collect this data on video to use as a teaching and recruiting tool for future participants.  3.  We would also use an online survey tool to gather data from participants on a regular basis so that we could make changes to the program, as needed, to meet the needs of teachers (this answer also applies to question #20).  4.  In order to gauge the true impact of this project we will need additional time for implementation and for re-assessment of progress.

Recommendations: Administrative support and continued funding are essential.  Administrators have supported this program by helping to recruit mentors, providing substitutes for teachers and mentors, and by providing mentors with the time to discuss this project during staff meetings.  Although grant funding was important in initiating this project, ongoing funding for the mentor positions is important if the project is to have lasting impact.

Telling our story: The impact of this project has been shared with administrators, technology coordinators, and school board members.

Documents to share:  All of our resources are available within a Moodle course. We would he happy to share these resources with anyone who is interested.