Preparing new faculty for teaching in a laptop school
As we start the new school year, I was hoping to do a quick survey (will blog results, hopefully later this week) about how schools with laptop programs prep new faculty. I realize it’s too late to help most of us for this school year, but as many of us have a handful of new faculty starting in the next few weeks, it seemed a good idea to discuss while it’s fresh so we can plan accordingly for next summer.
Questions:
- When do new faculty receive computers, email accounts, website accounts, etc.?
- Are any of you sending new faculty to technology conferences, such as the Lausanne Laptop Institute in Memphis to prep for 1:1?
- How much time is spent training teachers on how to access school resources (network and cloud) via computer?
- How much prep time is given to new faculty to work on integration – work with integrationist, teaching team, etc.?
- Are things such as classroom management with laptops, student expectations, etc., part of the discussion?
- Is technology proficiency a job requirement? If so, how is it assessed during the interview process?
- Is ability to effectively integrate technology a job requirement? If so, how is it assessed during the interview process?
Thanks in advance for your feedback! I tweeted an abbreviated version of this question a few minutes ago. If you’d rather not post your reply in comment, just email me.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
* When do new faculty receive computers, email accounts, website accounts, etc.?
By default at the new employee orientation at the end of August, or earlier by request in a one-on-one training.
* Are any of you sending new faculty to technology conferences, such as the Lausanne Laptop Institute in Memphis to prep for 1:1?
No, we prefer to encourage teachers to design their own professional development plans holistically, rather than zeroing in on 1:1 for specific attention.
* How much time is spent training teachers on how to access school resources (network and cloud) via computer?
All new employees attend a one-hour training on the basics. After that, we rely on just-in-time help from colleagues and the IT department.
* How much prep time is given to new faculty to work on integration – work with integrationist, teaching team, etc.?
As above, we do not designate prep time for this specific purpose, but many teachers choose to work on integration in the context of lesson planning for the year.
* Are things such as classroom management with laptops, student expectations, etc., part of the discussion?
We cover this briefly during orientation, but informal conversations take place among colleagues all the time.
* Is technology proficiency a job requirement? If so, how is it assessed during the interview process?
Yes, but definitely secondary to other teaching skills. It is only assessed through Q&A and examples of teacher-provided work.
* Is ability to effectively integrate technology a job requirement? If so, how is it assessed during the interview process?
Same as the previous question.
A couple of points to tack on:
- Our “new” teachers often come with years of experience, including tech integration. If they don’t, there’s often a good reason why.
- We make every attempt to avoid pushing technology outside of the context of teaching and learning.