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Professional Development in Technology: Catalyst for School Reform
Article

, University of Houston, United States

Journal of Technology and Teacher Education Volume 9, Number 2, ISSN 1059-7069 Publisher: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, Waynesville, NC USA

Abstract

This case study of teachers' professional development in in-structional technology explores three assumptions. The first is that teachers are at various levels in their knowledge and use of technology, and that these levels are developmental. Teachers' levels of knowledge and use are described using a classification of teachers' developmental levels of knowl-edge and skill in applying technology in the classroom along a continuum of "nonreadiness," "survival," "mastery," "im-pact," and "innovation." The second assumption is that staff development for instructional technology needs to be based on what are currently construed as "best practices" for teach-ers' professional development. Current best practices suggest that while staff development may begin with conventional inservice training, it should move quickly beyond to efforts that support teachers' development as professionals involved in decision-making, inquiry, and leadership in their class-room teaching. In order to develop as professionals, teachers specifically need help and support in integrating new knowl-edge and skills into their classroom practice. The case data offer valuable support for theorizing about teachers' profes-sional development in technology that characterizes the pro-fessional literature. The third assumption for this study is that teachers' professional development in technology may well serve to further larger goals of school reform. This as-sumption is addressed in a discussion of what was observed to be the infrastructure that already exists and that is still needed to support teachers' continuing development in tech-nology at the school studied. Attention must be paid to this infrastructure both to understand and to affect the kind of change necessary for school reform. As technology changes the ways that schools themselves are structured, efforts to meld innovation in instructional technology with best prac-tices in teachers' professional development catalyzes other elements of school reform.

Citation

Holland, P.E. (2001). Professional Development in Technology: Catalyst for School Reform. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 9(2), 245-267. Norfolk, VA: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .

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