Joshua S. Dyer December 2016 Dr. Williamson Summer 2015

Running head: ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN A 1:1 ENVIRONMENT 1
Joshua S. Dyer
ONGOING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN A 1:1 ENVIRONMENT 2
CAPSTONE REPORT
Candidate Name: Joshua S. Dyer
Email Address: [email protected]
Is this a Capstone Project or Study?
This is a capstone project designed to assist and support teachers in a 1:1 school with effectively implementing instructional technology through continued professional development and technology coaching.
Client Name and Description:
The clients in this project are the teachers and administrators of Salem High School, in the Rockdale County Public Schools district of Conyers, Georgia, where I am employed as a Digital Learning Specialist. Our district is in the midst of a 1:1 technology rollout, and there is a need for professional development in instructional technology to ensure that the rollout improves teaching and learning as it was intended.
1. Description of the Capstone Experience and Results
As outlined in my capstone field log, my capstone experience can be divided into three general
areas: Professional Learning, Technology Coaching, and District Leadership. Professional Learning refers
to my experiences planning and leading whole group professional development sessions. These sessions
were held in Professional Learning Communities (i.e. content area departments), in whole and small-
group sessions with my school faculty, and on special occasions in which I led groups of teachers district-
wide in professional learning. Technology Coaching refers to my experiences planning and co-teaching
with a colleague according to the instructional coaching model outlined by Knight (2007). Finally,
District Leadership refers to any activity in which I worked directly with district leadership on technology
initiatives. In most cases, these initiatives consist of my own professional development, facilitated
through monthly meetings in which district leadership meets with my colleagues and me, the Digital
Learning Specialist Team (there is one of us in each school).
Professional Learning
My experiences in Professional Learning were completed as expected. District Professional
Learning Days were scheduled well in advance, and Technology Department leadership coordinated
with other district leadership to make sure instructional technology took priority on those days. As a
result, the professional learning that I led was the main training session in my school on the first day of
semester two (January 4th, 2016) and the focus of a teacher work day at the midterm of semester two
(March 11th, 2016). In addition, Rockdale County Public Schools coordinated its first annual Technology
Conference in a one day workshop at the end of the 2015-16 school year. Interested teachers signed up
for six training sessions on various instructional technology available in the district. The conference was
on Wednesday, June 1st, and I delivered professional learning on how to integrate student-centered
pedagogy into Office Mix (an add-on to PowerPoint) as well as how to apply instructionally sound
practices to creating content in our district’s new Learning Management System, ItsLearning.
During Pre-Planning of the 2016-17 school year, I delivered professional learning across a span
of three days—July 22nd, July 25th, and July 26th. The sessions on the 25th and 26th were held in PLC
groups in my building, and we trained on ItsLearning. However, the 22nd was a unique and unexpected
experience. In late May, a member of the district Professional Learning Department contacted me and
asked me to lead a session on strategies for integrating instructional technology in the foreign language
classroom. Although my background is in English/Language Arts, I accepted the invitation and
considered it a growth opportunity. July 22nd was scheduled as a district-wide professional learning day,
and I was to lead a session with foreign language teachers across the district. The Capstone Log
documents the days I collaborated with foreign language colleagues in order to understand the main
ideas, strategies, and general pedagogy in the foreign language classroom. With my background
knowledge of instructional technology and language education (i.e. English/Language Arts), I was able to
design an effective session that received positive feedback.
Regarding ongoing professional development, I meet with content area PLC’s during their
common planning periods throughout the year. Much of the professional learning I deliver is aligned to
the building level needs at the time. For example, much of the time I spend with PLC’s at the beginning
of the year focuses on updates to new technology and instruction on how to set up gradebooks. PLC
sessions further into the year focus on assessment, pedagogical strategies, or strategies for integrating
technology tools, depending on the teachers’ needs.
As a Digital Learning Specialist, I will have ongoing opportunities to deliver professional
development beyond the conclusion of this capstone project. The district has already scheduled
Professional Learning Days on January 3rd, February 17th, and March 13th of next year. Again, technology
will be the highlight of professional development, and I will be called upon to present in the PLC’s of my
school. I will continue to meet with PLC’s on a regular basis, and my district has given me a guide for the
topics to be covered each month. I am the technology leader of my school, and delivering ongoing
professional development is one of my direct duties and responsibilities.
District Leadership
My experiences working with district technology leadership represent my own professional
development, which in turn translates into the professional development I lead in my school. In all
cases documented in this project, I met with the district-wide team of Digital Learning Specialists. These
meetings are the crucible in which our district’s shared vision for technology use is developed and then
implemented across the district. These days were instrumental not only to my professional
development project, but my position as a whole, and anytime I missed a meeting due to illness or other
factors, it was difficult to catch up with the team. For the most part, district leadership experiences
turned out as planned, as these meetings are scheduled at the beginning of the year, and a clear agenda
is posted in the team OneNote notebook in advance of each meeting.
Technology Coaching
My experiences serving as an instructional technology coach were some of the most rewarding
of the capstone experience. My team and I conducted a book study of Knight (2007) the year before I
began the capstone project, so I was familiar with the partnership approach to instructional coaching. I
began my first coaching assignment with a first year social studies teacher referred to as “Mrs. D.” in the
capstone log. I began coaching her in November of 2015 after she came to me requesting assistance
working with our Learning Management System. One classroom observation was enough to show me
that technical assistance was not her only need; she was in need of classroom management guidance
and additional support with instructional strategies to better facilitate the online portion of her class in
the LMS. I was able to meet her needs with limited success, as the classroom environment was a
significant barrier for us both to overcome. Similar to other first year teachers, Mrs. D struggled with
classroom management, and even with my experience, it was difficult to maintain student engagement.
Despite this barrier, we made noteworthy progress. Mrs. D began to use the LMS more effectively, and
she became somewhat innovative with it. For example, she was able to facilitate student presentations
more efficiently by requiring students to attach PowerPoint files to posts in a discussion forum,
something I had not considered before working with her. According to Knight (2007, p. 50), this kind of
reciprocity is essential in any instructional coaching relationship. Though I have moved on to coach
others, Mrs. D is having a much more successful second year of teaching thus far.
My second and third instructional coaching experiences began in the spring of 2016. For both
experiences, I worked with experienced veteran teachers with strong classroom management skills. The
first teacher, Dr. J, asked me to work with her to integrate technology into a traditional research project.
The result of our collaboration was my Multimedia Design Project, which is one of my most significant
projects in the Instructional Technology program. As rich as the coaching experience was, it was short
lived. Unfortunately, Dr. J suffered a prolonged illness that took her away from the school frequently.
We attempted to reconnect as teacher partners in the fall of 2016, yet the health issues persisted.
Though it is outside the scope of this report, I have remained in correspondence with her, and I am
pleased to report that she has been recovering and will return to teaching shortly.
I have experienced considerably more success with my third technology coaching project,
working with a veteran teacher referred to as Ms. F in my log. I have worked with Ms. F for several
hours beyond those documented in my capstone log, but they are omitted from this log because they
have been included in another log for a separate field experience. Of the three major technology
coaching experiences I have had since the outset of this capstone project, my experiences working with
Ms. F have been the most successful. We have planned and co-taught several sessions together, and I
have built strong rapport with both her and her students. I will continue to coach her beyond this
project, and I plan to follow-up soon with her students, who are currently engaged in completing a
science project.
My district uses the term “focused coaching” to describe the assignments I have completed with
Mrs. D, Dr. J, and Ms. F, and while I devote much attention to these assignments, I do not neglect the
other teachers’ needs in the building. In fact, I have had several teachers request my assistance for
shorter, less formal coaching sessions. Strong examples of these sessions are documented near the end
of the Technology Coaching section of my capstone log. For example, I have completed several remedial
coaching sessions with teachers who needed additional support with our school’s Learning Management
System, ItsLearning. As well, my leadership has requested that I work with a veteran teacher who
struggles with both classroom management and technology integration. She is referred to as Ms. G in
my log. Employing the instructional coaching model, I have observed and co-taught several of her
classes, and she appears to be making progress in both classroom management and technology
integration.
My capstone log shows that between technology coaching, professional learning, and district
leadership, I spent the fewest hours on technology coaching, yet this activity is supposed to be a
significant part of my role in the school. Time was perhaps the most significant barrier preventing me
from accomplishing more coaching. Unlike many “official” instructional coaches, I as a Digital Learning
Specialist have a plethora of duties and responsibilities besides one-on-one coaching with teachers. I
documented several “unofficial” coaching sessions in my log because I foresee the future role of the
Digital Learning Specialist as one who coaches several teachers in fewer sessions, rather than one who
coaches a few teachers in several sessions. Perhaps this set of conditions represents an evolution in
technology coaching, and it becomes more fitting that I make brief visits to a wider range of colleagues.
If so, then time is not so much of a barrier as it seems, and my successes are more than I have realized.
I have most definitely succeeded working with district leadership in delivering professional
learning. I have built strong rapport with the district’s Technology, Curriculum, and Professional
Learning Departments, and I am frequently called upon for extra assistance in my own department, and
to deliver professional learning in sessions across the district. I have also succeeded in my own building.
Although there is occasional downtime, and occasional discontent with the technology, my school’s
faculty and student body continue to grow within our district’s one-to-one implementation, and I
continue to provide support for them. Because coaching and professional learning are integral parts of
my role, I already have follow-up plans in place. I fully intend to continue refining my leadership skills in
regards to professional learning. Even though traditional, workshop style meetings are not the most
effective method of professional learning (Knight, 2007, p. 4), my district will continue to use them to
some extent for the foreseeable future. We have learned the lesson that using peers as facilitators
instead of outside experts is more effective (Guskey & Yoon, 2009), and I will continue to refine my
delivery so that my workshops are standards based, but also relevant and hands-on. I also intend to
maintain dialogue with district technology leadership regarding my role in my school and the manner in
which we carry out technology coaching. I will continue on the path of “focused coaching,” but I will
also have conversations with leadership on what exactly that looks like and how it might evolve to be
more compatible with our everyday work. Research shows it often takes 5—8 years for the benefits of
innovations such as one-to-one to come to fruition with discernable impacts (Holcomb, 2009). We are
only in our second year, so it stands to reason that we will eventually have more successes than
setbacks, we will implement changes yet to be envisioned, and ultimately, we will continue to grow and
improve as a 21st Century school district.
2. Discussion and Reflection
One of my primary goals when envisioning my efforts delivering professional development in
technology was to dismantle as many barriers to professional learning as possible. Ertmer (1999)
classifies these barriers into two categories: first order and second order. First order barriers are
external, beyond a teacher’s control, and in the case of instructional technology, include factors such as
a lack of digital resources or technical support. Our district’s one-to-one initiative dissolved most first
order barriers for me, as every teacher and student was given a school laptop, and all classrooms house
21st Century equipment (ceiling-installed digital projector, speakers, and connections). Second order
barriers are internal, are within a teacher’s control, and include factors such as a teacher’s content
knowledge, knowledge of instructional strategies, technical skills, and general attitudes and beliefs
about technology. Because of their internal nature, second order barriers tend to be more challenging
to address (Ertmer, Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Sadik, Sendurur, & Sendurur, 2012), and it is because of this
challenge that my district created the role of the Digital Learning Specialist in each school. My role was
specifically designed to support teachers as they overcome these second order barriers.
While planning professional development, I must consider several factors to deliver the most
effective experience. These factors include incorporating pedagogical strategies, anticipating and
responding to those who resist change, assisting those who seek innovation, and teaching others how to
troubleshoot common technology problems (Hixon & Buckenmeyer, 2009). Additionally, the
professional development that I deliver, whether through coaching or through group meetings, must
unite technology with pedagogy, and teachers must be able to see how technology can fit into specific
instructional strategies. Technology, essentially, must be “married to the curriculum” (Hixon &
Buckenmeyer, 2009, p. 143). Finally, to deliver effective professional development, there must be
several positive factors in place. These factors include an actual desire for professional learning, support
from administrators and other leaders, time and space for learning communities, appropriate funding,
access to technology, and, perhaps most importantly, positive attitudes such as patience, enthusiasm,
and effort among teachers and leaders (Cifuentes, Maxwell, & Bulu, 2011).
To summarize, two of my chief responsibilities are to help teachers overcome technological
barriers and to coordinate effective professional development both individually and in groups. I came
into this role and implemented this capstone project around the time in which my district allocated
millions of taxpayer dollars toward technology, which further amplified the significance of my role. With
guidance from my district’s Technology Department, along with the additional learning through my
coursework, I have fulfilled my duties and learned tremendously from my experiences in technology
leadership over the past couple of years.
Working with technology leadership and my fellow Digital Learning Specialists has taught me
that there is a complex array of factors that contribute to the development of a shared vision for the use
of technology in teaching, learning, and leadership. As well, I have learned that it takes much time and
much diplomacy to promote the diffusion of change and the sustaining of innovation in regards to
instructional technology. Knowledge of the technology is insufficient; one must also be knowledgeable
of leadership skills, the culture at one’s school, and the relationship between building-level and district-
level leadership structures. One must be skilled at working effectively with each group, and one must
have the skill to advocate for the teachers and students in one’s school. Finally, serving as a technology
leader demands a professional disposition that includes a high level of patience and cooperation. One
needs patience when troubleshooting technical issues, but also when working with those who struggle
with technology. Also, one must be able to cooperate with students, teachers, administrators, and
district leadership, especially when the groups’ motivations and agendas conflict with one another.
The work that I completed designing and implementing professional development sessions
taught me that planning these sessions is just as challenging, if not more so, than planning instruction
for students. In the beginning stages of the capstone experience, my weaknesses included neglecting to
conduct needs assessments before delivering professional learning, and not designing effective
evaluation instruments afterwards. The result was professional learning that left teachers frustrated
and poorly informed on the topic of the sessions. I have since addressed these weaknesses, and the
process has shown me that technology leaders must be knowledgeable of the current reality of their
school, including what technology is being used, how it is being used, and how knowledgeable the
teachers are. One must certainly have the skill to design effective professional learning, but more
importantly, one must be skilled at conducting needs assessments on several levels (school-wide,
department-wide, and grade-wide) to determine how best to design that professional learning. Finally,
as with implementing a shared vision, implementing professional learning requires a professional
disposition that includes patience with the technology and with others, as well as a cooperative spirit
that can connect with others even if they are uncooperative or disinterested in the task at hand.
As previously stated, working as an instructional technology coach has been the most rewarding
experience of the capstone project, and it has also been the most engaging learning experience. While
working with teachers and students in the classroom, I can witness first-hand my efforts implementing a
shared vision for technology, delivering professional development to teachers, and supporting school
technology in general. Thus, I learn much from visiting classrooms and observing how teachers
integrate my training into their teaching practice. The most important lesson I have learned is that
technology is often not implemented in the manner I envision when planning professional learning or
supporting school technology. While it was discouraging to witness at first, I have learned to view it as a
learning experience, showing me what kind of remediation is necessary with teachers and students to
create, support, and manage effective digital learning environments. As a leader in technology and
professional learning, I must have the skill to effectively model technology-enhanced learning
experiences, digital tools and resources, and research-based best practices. However, as an
instructional coach and co-teacher, I must be able to facilitate these tools and skills in a live classroom. I
have found the latter is more challenging, yet also the most rewarding. As well, the work I do in live
classrooms supports the authenticity of my work as a whole, and it builds rapport with my teachers.
They are more likely to view me as an authentic technology leader when I am working in the classroom
and less likely to view me as just another staff member who stays in the office and works on the
computer all day. In fact, it is precisely that helpful disposition that is so important to my work as a
technology leader. I must have a friendly, helpful, proactive, and willing disposition to carry out my
duties and responsibilities. In fact, I find time spent in the office less engaging than time spent across
the school and in classrooms. I prefer to see and be seen by students and colleagues as much as
possible.
The challenges working as a technology leader are different from those of a classroom teacher.
Our technology leadership often reminds us that in many ways, we serve as customer service
representatives. We are the friendly face of technology that maintains its composure and diffuses
frustration when the technology fails, and we are the consultants who show teachers how to better use
technology in the classroom. Thus, perhaps my strongest recommendation to anyone seeking a position
in technology coaching, professional learning, and support is to be friendly and patient with others. In
numerous situations, interpersonal skills are more important than technological expertise, and I cannot
fulfill any of my responsibilities if I have poor rapport with others. I also recommend patience in looking
forward to the diffusion of change when implementing new initiatives. What comes naturally to a
technology expert takes more time than expected when working with those who are less adept with
technology.
When planning and implementing professional development, I recommend designing it to be as
relevant and as hands on as possible. Teachers have limited time, and they have numerous issues
competing for their attention. Thus, they will not be engaged in professional development unless they
are actively involved in it and the learning can be applied immediately to their instruction. I also
recommend a holistic approach to professional development. It is not enough to teach teachers how to
use a digital tool. Additionally, one must plan the session around specific instructional strategies, one
must ensure the session is based on both curriculum and technology standards, and one must
demonstrate specific examples of how the tool can be used in the classroom. Finally, one should take
the time to solicit feedback from the participants, whether it is a survey, a discussion, or another means.
By taking feedback into account, I have been able to improve on my weaknesses as a presenter and
deliver more effective sessions.
Working as an instructional coach, I recommend making it clear to colleagues that I am not in
their classroom to evaluate them, and I am only there to observe, to recommend, and to support.
Teachers are much more likely to welcome an instructional coach if they understand that the coach is on
equal ground in the classroom, and no part of their interactions will be used as a critical evaluation. I
also recommend allowing the teacher to set the goals of the coaching session. My collaboration as a
coach has run more smoothly when the teacher chooses the goal or focus, rather than me or an
administrator. Finally, I highly recommend coming into a coaching assignment with a flexible attitude. I
have observed permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative classroom management styles, and I have
had to maintain flexibility when recommending strategies to implement technology more effectively in
all three environments. I have also seen a variety of content areas in action, as well as a variety of
activities and instructional strategies. Effective coaching, and, indeed, effective technology leadership,
requires one to observe a variety of styles, subjects, and activities, and to make specific
recommendations to enable teachers and students to transform teaching and learning with instructional
technology.
References
Ertmer, P. A. (1999). Addressing first- & second-order barriers to change: Strategies for technology
integration. Educational Technology Research & Development, 47(4), 47–61. Ertmer, P. A., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T., Sadik, O., Sendurur, E., & Sendurur, P. (2012). Teacher beliefs &
technology integration practices: A critical relationship. Computers & Education, 59, 423—435. Guskey, T. R., & Yoon, K. S. (2009). What works in professional development? Phi Delta Kappan, 90(7),
495—500.
Hixon, E., & Buckenmeyer, J. (2009). Revisiting technology integration in schools: Implications for professional development. Computers in the Schools, 26, 130—146.
Holcomb, L. B. (2009). Results & lessons learned from 1:1 laptop initiatives: A collective review.
TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 53, 49-55.

Documents

Joshua S. Dyer December 2016 Dr. Williamson Summer 2015