On-Site Support for Technology Integration

Effective support that involves technology integration at the school site can be one-on-one, by grade-level, by department, or by skill level by the following staff developers: 

Trainer and Scenario
Mentor
Coach

What is a Trainer?

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.

Scenario

Mary is a technology trainer. The school contracted with her to provide technology training for their staff. Through a survey, the teachers prioritized what software or technology they wanted training on. From the results, Mary was scheduled to come in before the school year to do two workshops on the Internet. She provided the teachers with handouts and reference information at the workshops. The teachers attended the workshops grouped by ability 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 meeting with Mary for future after-school workshops.

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