Paula Stamey, a seventh-grade social studies teacher in Benton, Tennessee, taught for 20 years before the school became law. Verizon Innovative Learning School Initially, she resisted this change, finding it unnecessary and distracting. “I felt that I had a system that worked well, and that introducing this ‘nonsense’ would add nothing to my classroom, increase my work, and distract my students.” That’s it,” she said. She put away the devices as students entered the classroom and she continued to teach the same way she has for the past 20 years.
But when schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Stamey suddenly found herself having to digitize everything she had been doing. She knew she had to prepare for what was to come, so she recalled what she learned in her first learning experience at Verizon Innovative Learning Schools and pursued every professional development and certification she could find. I started jumping at opportunities. “When the school year started, I wanted to arm myself with as many tools as possible,” she said.
Mrs. Stamey was not alone in her initial reluctance to use technology in the classroom. She had time to change her mindset and be intentional about how she incorporated technology into her education, but the school district rushed to adopt her 1-on-1 program to provide a distance learning solution, making it extremely difficult. Many teachers are now dealing with a rapid influx of technology. Students during the pandemic. The heroic work of district and school leaders, IT leaders, teachers, and parents who kept learning going during unprecedented times revealed her two important truths about 1:1 programs.
- Steady advances in educational technology, including devices, connectivity, and software, underpin its huge potential to support teachers with powerful tools to reach learners in a wide range of diverse ways.
- The challenges to effectively implementing 1:1 programs to maximize their potential are complex, intertwined, and not easily resolved.
As schools enter the third post-pandemic year, they are facing challenges such as aging devices and the need for robust systems to support device procurement, connectivity, and maintenance. Educators value digital competencies and their 21st century skills and need support in leveraging technology to meet the diverse needs of their students. To address this, comprehensive professional learning integrated into one-to-one programs is essential for sustainable digital transformation. This aligns the vision of district and school leaders with implementation systems, ensures IT support for device access, and enables educators to deliver student-centered learning. This comprehensive approach is aligned with Digital Promise’s soon-to-be-released Digital Equity Framework to drive meaningful improvements in student outcomes.
But the inconvenient truth is that achieving high-impact professional development is not easy. According to research, Investing in professional development has mixed results.. Educators often undergo professional development. Patchwork of different providers and formats disconnected from district effortscharacterized by a mostly passive delivery model. There are few opportunities to connect learning to local context or extend learning into meaningful classroom practice..
However, in empirical studies, What makes professional development effective? When developing new skills or changing instructional methods to impact student learning, note the following: Some effective practices to help design and deliver types of professional learning This is necessary for districts and schools to transform 1:1 programs into highly effective models. Over the past decade, our experience helping school districts successfully implement one-on-one programs through the Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program has revealed the following evidence-based keys to effective professional learning:
- Consistent and sustained duration. The consensus among researchers is that: Educators benefit from sustained and continuous professional learning This relates to both district and school efforts and is based on local conditions, with some suggesting around 50 hours in a given area. Unlike her one-time workshops that may generate short-term interest, educators need to engage with the concepts and take the time to put what they learn from professional development sessions into practice in new classrooms. Repeated opportunities to develop relevant skills over time are essential. Verizon Innovative Learning Schools’ multi-year professional learning programs support the learning of multiple stakeholders responsible for successful implementation of 1:1 programs. The scope and sequence of professional learning for each stakeholder ensures hours of consistent, relevant content aimed at fostering the development of highly leveraged knowledge and skills for each role. . Over time, numerous touchpoints evolve the concept and provide regular opportunities to practice and refine the application across all aspects of implementation.
- Active and responsive learning. The active learning model fosters deep cognitive engagement and practice opportunities while addressing individual learning needs. Feedback from experts and colleagues is essential to an active, practice-rich professional learning model. Additionally, providing learners with agency and choice over their path and pace promotes active learning and fosters learner engagement. We accomplish these goals in a variety of ways as part of our instructional design process. First, work on designing learning for multiple modalities, both synchronous and asynchronous. Live synchronous sessions are rich in modeling and collaborative meaning-making. Asynchronous sessions are more flexible for learners, allowing them to explore concepts and examples based on their interests and growth areas. Finally, we provide bite-sized practice opportunities in the classroom, enhanced by on-site pedagogical technology coaching. This increases motivation and allows for real-time feedback for reflection and skill improvement. Verizon Innovative Learning Schools coaches are at the core of an active and responsive professional learning model, always connecting learning to local context and supporting ongoing cycles of practice, feedback, reflection, and sensemaking. Masu.
- Group participation. Intentional collective participation speaks to the benefits of pursuing professional learning with others in the same school or district, thereby increasing peer-to-peer support and providing opportunities outside of structured professional development sessions. Continuous learning is encouraged. The Verizon Innovative Learning Schools program’s cohort model means learners in different roles engage in specialized learning that is tailored to their individual contributions to one-on-one delivery that supports collective participation. To do. This collaborative approach is enhanced through the promotion of online professional learning communities. For this effort, we leverage community spaces through online as well as in-person and virtual events to connect learners within, across, and across cohorts at various stages of implementation.
Mrs. Stamey never returned to her old teaching methods. “Once I finally surrendered to technology and saw how much it increased student engagement, I started to think about other ‘old school ideas’ about what classrooms should look like and how classes should function. “I started letting go of the concept of ‘school,'” she said. . Thanks to her insights from her professional development, Ms. Stamey has created a classroom where students can choose what they work on and how they work on it. “None of this would have been possible without Verizon Innovative Learning Schools. It has shown me how much more we can offer our students,” she said. She said, “I feel more invested and committed to my career than ever before.”