Professional Development - Vol. IV, Part I

Effective Professional Development Incorporates
Hands-On Technology Use
This NCREL-identified component of effective professional development is based on
research that confirms good common sense: when teachers receive training in technology, they
are more apt to feel comfortable integrating it into their lessons. Additionally, when teachers are
confident in using technology, they are more likely to think about ways to use it with students.
Closely related is one of the NSDC standards, “Uses learning strategies appropriate to the
intended goal.”
Texas Instruments’ Professional Development
All of the professional development offered by TI is activity-based. Teachers actually
use the hand-held instruments to solve real-life problems. As reported to us, all of these
activities can be immediately used with students in the classroom. Motivation is high because
the activities are perceived by teachers as relevant to their needs and those of their students.
Effective Professional Development Is Job-Embedded
The Knowledge Loom presents this component of effective professional development in
the following words: “Professional Development should be primarily school-based and built into
the day-to-day work of teaching.” One of the NCREL components similarly explains the
necessity of using a variety of different learning experiences, including workshops, classroom
observations, mentoring, and hands-on practice in the classroom with feedback. Adults require
relevant learning with appropriate support and follow-up.
Texas Instruments’ Professional Development
Face-to-face training for one to three days, conducted by expert trainers from outside the
school or district, does not easily allow for professional development to be long-term or jobembedded.
When TI provides this type of professional development, it is responding to specific
requests by schools, districts, or other organizations. These agencies may not be interested in
job-embedded and long-term professional development.
The opportunity for job-embedded professional development is heightened when the
sponsoring agency hires TI to conduct a training-for-trainers session. During this long-term
process (five days of training with four days of follow-up) teachers are trained thoroughly and
then expected to train members of their own staffs in the use of the hand-held devices. When
training is done at the school level by local, school-based trainers, there is increased opportunity
for long-term professional development, i.e., more than workshops—to include observations,
problem solving, and feedback. To ensure that this happens, TI could develop agendas designed
to encourage job-embedded training (in addition to workshops) and establish the expectation that
teacher-trainers, upon return to their local site, would facilitate opportunities for mentoring,
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