A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Systemic Reform: Perspectives on Personalizing Education - September 1994

Policy Issues and Implications (Continued)

Professional Development. Technology provides a tool and an impetus for the creation of challenging curriculum and instruction. However, teachers need to know how to create such new environments and administrators need to know how to lead and inspire such efforts. And both need to be able to use a range of technologies. For both teachers and administrators, this requires a different conception of professional development--one driven by individual and team choices on an as-needed basis. And like effective instruction for students, the most effective forms of professional development are those which provide authentic tasks in collaborative settings--and the time to do them. Hence, designing curriculum, creating technology-based projects with a team, and developing assessment tasks are powerful ways for educators to learn.

Educators face the tension between learning how to use technology before "going public" versus learning alongside students. Each individual has a different sensibility, but most educators prefer to master at least the basics of a new technology before beginning use in front of others. Consequently, a powerful form of professional development tied to technology is to provide teachers with computers they can take home. A number of districts now do this in conjunction with introductory training--those who attend institutes in the summer receive a computer for home and school use. Experience in Apple Classroom of Tomorrow (ACOT) sites which have had large infusions of technology over the years suggests that over time, teachers become more comfortable learning new tools with the students (Ringstaff et al 1992).

Telecommunications extends the potential for collegial work beyond the school. In fact, given the isolation of teachers from each other within buildings, creating professional networks outside the school can be easier than inside. However to benefit from the vast world of information and people a few keystrokes away, teachers need access to a computer, phone line, and modem. In organizations yet to put telephones on teachers' desks, this is no small requirement. In Texas, where a statewide network, TENET was introduced last year, 10,000 teachers signed up during the first year. Of those interviewed, many cited use of the network at home and not at school for lack of access to phone lines (Web Associates 1992).

------------------------------------------------------------- |Rules of Thumb for Professional Development                | |                                                           | |+Invest at least as much in professional development as in | |technology.  If limited funds, use what is available for   | |professional development and seek other funding sources,   | |including grants and business partnerships, for acquiring  | |technology.                                                | |                                                           | |+Focus on ensuring teacher access to and comfort with      | |technology for their own uses before expecting extensive   | |use with students.                                         | |                                                           | |+Invest in developing principals as leaders of change,     | |supporters of teacher development, and modelers of         | |technology use.                                            | |                                                           | |+Maximize leverage of professional development by          | |investing in lead cadres of teachers--one or more          | |from each school--who are supported to share expertise     | |with colleagues and other trainer of trainer models.       | |                                                           | |+Give school faculties (as a whole, as teams, and          | |individuals) the flexibility to select the kinds of        | |training and other development opportunities appropriate   | |to their needs and preferences.                            |        -------------------------------------------------------------
Equity. Reforming the education system and realizing the potential of technology is extremely difficult in the best of circumstances. Realizing the promise in rural schools and inner city schools in neighborhoods devastated by poverty greatly intensifies the challenge. The biggest risk is that the promise will be realized only in wealthy communities, greatly increasing the already large and growing gap between rich and poor. The federal government has traditionally played an important role in ensuring equity through providing resources, protecting rights, and pressuring states to do the same. To achieve the vision of systemic reform, all levels of the system must strive together to transform the system in ways that will benefit all children.

Equity rests first on a fair system of school finance that does not penalize property-poor districts. Equitable access to technology requires not only access to hardware and software but, importantly, to educators who use it effectively. If teachers have no reason to change their practices, computers will be used as workbooks, video technology will be used for presentations, and telecommunications will be used, if at all, to receive administrative dicta. Consequently, a significant aspect of equitable access for all students rests on opportunities for teachers and administrators to learn new practices. Current practice leans more heavily on drill and basics for students from poverty than for those from wealth. Uninformed choices about technology and lack of knowledge about principles of learning have the potential to maintain that discriminatory distinction.

Ultimately, technology through telecommunications and video may be the most cost-effective vehicle for ensuring that teachers, wherever they are, have access to best practice. Through downloading curricula, opportunities to interact with experts and colleagues on line, and watching individually or in working groups master teachers and other instructional videos, more teachers may have access to new ideas and collaborative work than would be possible or affordable face-to-face. And for students, equitable access to materials, information, and other resources may be more readily achieved through networks than under current distribution systems.

----------------------------------------------------------- |Rules of Thumb for Equity                                | |                                                         | |+Ensure equity in access to technology and professional  | |development, both across and within schools, through     | |state and federal policies and resources.                | |                                                         | |+Ensure access to challenging curriculum and instruction | |for children of poverty.                                 | |                                                         | |+Provide parents and the community access and training to| |use the technology.                                      | -----------------------------------------------------------
Educating parents and communities about technologies as well has multiple advantages broadening support for new uses with students, maximizing the use of technology and the school facility, and providing needed skills to adults. Instead of restricting use of costly technology to 30 hours a week--when school is in session--evening and weekend use for adult learning can provide additional sources of revenue for technology purchases.


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