Backyard

What are effective ways to help teachers increase their skills in ICT??

Notwithstanding the fact that the real agenda is about learning and pedagogy, just helping teachers to take the time to learn “new stuff” is not easy.

Some of the things that seem to work:

• ICT “integrators” working alongside teachers
  • • this costs a fortune! Rich schools do it!
• “Just in time” or “point of sale” learning
  • • how can you be sure to be there at the right time (see point 1)??
• Giving each teacher their own laptop and broadband connection at home.
  • • Expensive
    • Lots of wastage
    • Accountability??
• Empowering the “early adopters”
  • • What about the other kids?
• Changing school structures - block timetabling, open plan spaces, extended day, team teaching
  • • Requires vision from the “top” - not often found
    • High demand on staff - sustainability in long term?
    • Meshing with “traditional” structures (e.g. external exams)

With the many demands these days good teachers and their Principals are reluctant to have people out of the regular classroom.

One model that has really worked for us this year is to pay teachers directly to use their own time (in holidays or weekends) to develop their skills and work on curriculum projects that they will then use within their school program.

This raises the issue of teachers being paid to do “extra”. If I get paid for this why not for attending the Year 7 camp? etc.

This need to be negotiated but also need sto be looked at. One of our schools has five projects being worked on by teachers in their summer vacation using this model.