Effective support that focuses on curriculum and technology integration at the school site can be one-on-one, in small groups, by grade-level, by department, or by skill level by a trainer and mentors with support of a coach. 

Scenario

The school contracted with Mary, a technology consultant, to provide training on Internet Basics for their staff of over 40 teachers. Mary was scheduled to come in before the school year to do two workshops showing how to navigate the Internet and use web resources in their classrooms. She provided the teachers with handouts and reference information at the workshops. The teachers were grouped by ability, signed up for one of the workshops, and were excited about what they learned. Each teacher was able to have one computer and time for hands-on practice. Unfortunately, there were over twenty teachers in each session and not enough one-on-one support for those teachers that could not keep up with the instruction. Some of the teachers were anxious to learn strategies for using the Internet with their students. Because of the size of the session, many of the examples and sites were not relevant to all of the teachers. Some of the teachers decided to search for the sites they needed on their own and did not follow along with Mary. Follow-up activities with the staff were not part of the contract. The school is planning on scheduling future after-school workshops with Mary.

What is a Trainer?

• Has expertise on specific software applications or technology.
• May or may not understand the use of technology as part of the curriculum.
• Creates or has reference materials that support the workshop.
• May or may not be a teacher.
• May be a teacher at the site, a teacher on special assignment, a technology coordinator or an outside independent contractor.
• Spends at least one hour of planning for every hour of the workshop.
• Shares some examples of projects that may or may not be their own.
• Has a dynamic personality with a good sense of humor and innovative ways of grabbing attention.
• Receives a stipend, salary, or paid as a consultant to present the workshop.
• May provide workshops before, during, or after school plus evenings or weekends.

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