As a district leader I believe I can help to improve Educator Preparation and Development through ongoing professional development opportunities. While participating in my Master's classes, I looked to gain insight from my peers through their experiences. Some had completed courses I had yet to take and others brought in "real life" experience that provided me lessons to be used in future situations. Instructional Technologists can help by assisting in capturing these moments (pod casts, web conferencing, etc), providing the structure for continuous sharing and feedback (wikis, blog spots, etc), and keeping us alert to the ever changing world of technology!

I think it's all about making it relevant and easy. If I want to encourage teachers to use powerpoint, as a leader, I need to create samples that are grade level and content area specific. It is really hard to get excited about something new if it is presented at a different level or in a different content. Teachers struggle with welcoming change anyway and to make them have to think about how they must modify something for their situation and then create it can be overwhelming. I think baby steps are crucial and, as always, recognizing achievement and examples from each department when teachers decide to jump in. I think Instructional Technologies can help by frequently sending out examples and sites that teachers may find useful. I think East Central has been doing a great job of this already. Our campus really enjoys having people come out monthly and showcasing new ways to incorporate technology. One suggestion may be to have a sign up sheet at those sessions for teachers who need more assistance. They can schedule a conference with the tech coordinator to come out and assist. Teachers often forget or are afraid to try to set up a visit and, in time, the priority shifts.

As a district/campus leader it is important to offer time for teachers to get involved in all things technology. As a campus, we have implemented a plan to have technology representatives meet with teachers often (once every month/month and a half) to develop their classroom wiki pages. We also give teacher the opportunity to meet with district technology representatives to look through various online programs that are available for teachers to use. As an administrative team, we have all created wiki pages in hopes to set the example for other staff members. We have also purchased itouches for second and third grade teachers along with continuing our subscription to audiblebooks.com for downloadable books.

As a campus or district leader, I help improve the area of Educator Preparation and Development by being a supportive, non-judgmental resource for all district personnel regardless of their job or role. Also, I should not automatically assume or expect staff members to already have the knowledge base to complete a task or activity. I think the Instructional Technologists can help you in your efforts by being the liaison between the teachers working in the classrooms and the administrative policy makers, curriculum staff and funding sources.

As a campus leader, I think it is important to provide staff development that is relevant to teachers. This year all of the teachers at the high school are required to create and maintain a wiki. Because of this requirement, wiki training was part of our 2 day staff development at the beginning of the year. Teachers also have access to our two instructional technologists for one on one assistance with wiki's or any other classroom technology support. Some of our teachers have really embraced the wiki, while others have maintained it because it is required. Our campus leadership is open to all ideas and been visiting classrooms to see 21st learning in action. I am looking forward to working more with this community.

There is a wealth of resources that can be utilized in assisting teachers to create engaging and differentiated lessons. As an administrator it is important for me to provide opportunities and access to these resources and advocate to acquire updated and reliable equipment and software. As Instructional Technologists, I feel it is important to provide trainings that are geared towards different ability levels. I also think that different formats should be implemented for the various learning styles of teachers.

As a campus leader, I think it's important to provide staff development opportunities that are relevant to what's going on in the classroom day to day. I try to provide as much time as possible for teachers to meet together and share, goal set, problem solve etc. I definitely do not have all the answers or know everything about education so using the brilliance of other educators is essential. The Instructional Technologists can help out by providing us with as many resources (web and software based) that will bring research and proven results to our fingertips. They can also help us by training our staff in how to use sites/wikis such as this to share the things that are working in our classrooms. We don't always have the time for face to face interactions. We can hear a lot more voices when we use different formats to communicate.