Professional+Development

(nic) Professional Development

At the heart of any change that involves integrating technology into an organization is Professional Development. PD needs to encompass training the staff in the technicalities of the technology but also the subsequent changes in procedures relating to their job that the innovation invariably requires, and all of this within the larger framework of the organization itself and the domain in which the organization is a part. This change guide deals specifically with the implementation of the innovation Moodle, to enhance teaching and learning, within a University that is required to adhere to international standards of quality from the perspective of Heads of Departement.

The PD processes and practices

need to operate on 3 levels: Micro-level : The classroom a) teacher b) student c) curriculum d) instructional materials and infrastrucure

Meso-level : The university a) leadership b) organizational environment

Macro-level : National and International entitites a) national policies b) international trends

need to focus on specificities related to 3 time periods: Before implementation During implementation After implementation

need to offer instruction and support in: technology classroom instruction as it relates to the new technology and instructional trends classroom learning as it relates to the new technology and instructional trends evaluation at all 3 levels and time periods

The PD team needs to have the following competencies: Instructional design Web development Moodle technical expertise Training and change management expertise

Kozma and Chao.

A case study of the implementation of an LMS in a university setting (Kidd 2010) highlighted the importance of training of staff for succesful change to occur.

The 3 major goals of PD according to Guskey (2002) are :


 * 1) Change in the practices of Teachers
 * 2) Change in their attitudes and beliefs
 * 3) Change in learning outcomes of students



The 'Model of Teacher Change'(Guskey 2002) suggests that it is not the PD itself that changes teacher's attitudes and beliefs but rather the gains they notice in Student Learning Outcomes that change them. They believe in the new practises because they have seen them work and will thus be more committed to continue with the new practises.

With this in mind any PD should include an assessment of the outcomes on Student Learning, this could also be student's perceptions.

Guskey argues that sustaining change through continued support is neglected and that PD should not be seen as one or a few events but as a process. As this model suggests that change occurs mainly after implementation, focus only on intitial training would not obtain the desired changes in teaching. Sustained training also takes into consideration the factor of time when it comes to teacher's adopting a new repertoire of skills.

Fullan also draws attention to the fact that having the belief that the continuous professional development of teachers is the key to educational improvement means nothing unless it is accompanied by an understanding of EFFECTIVE development and change process must be combined. Although he writes mainly about the school setting many of his findings could realte to lecturers in higher education. Fullan summarises the main reasons for failure in traditional Professional developement programs as due to : one-shot workshops, topics not selected by those people they are intended for, follow up support for ideas and practices not available, follow up evaluations does not occur enough, lack of consideration for how the information is to be applied in the classroom and a lack of a conceptual basis in the palnning and implementing to ensure their effectivness. In quoting Pink (1989) some of the barriers to effective staff development are the following: not providing adequate time for teachers to plan and learn the skills and practices thus not understanding the competeing demands and overlaod they are subjected to, lack of sufficient understanding, funding and technical support from central authorities, Professional Development is a strategy for specific instrustional change but also for basic organizational change that must ensure and support collaborative work between the teachers. A critical element of evaluation was establishing a climate of improvement through reflection, motivating change and not focussing on minimal levels of competence but rather on staff development and promotion. Bates in quoting Green (1998) highlights the importance of assisting faculty in integrating technology into their instruction. The findings of the American Productivity & Quality centre report (1999) found that it was the culture that needed to be totally immersed in technology through having a strong strategic plan, investing extensively in technological infrastructue and giving support from senior leadership, through faculty right through to support for students as well. Successful implementation could not solely rely on faculty development as the main focus for technological change. It also highlighted the need for focus to be placed on teaching and learning rather than on the technology itself. The example of Faculty Development at Virginia Tech combined many of the aforementioned issues. They used a problem-based approach to training that combined a focus on instructional practise and collaborative learning. Small groups, with an instructor, prepared lessons using the technology. This enabled the latter to be learnt whilst being able to cover any teaching issues that surfaced. Working in groups would also produce a mentoring/collaborative group that could provide peer-support and thus another source for support beyond the official one the university provides. This approach is further supported by the fact that faculty members learn best from their peers. Bates also suggests that any Professional Development program should take into consideration the positioning of faculty members along the continuum of the change process. This continuum ranges from 'fear to anger, resistance, grieving for the old, cautious adoption of innovation and finally total belief in or championing of the change.' In the case study by Kidd, the fear by some of loosing their tenure and/or being replaced by a machine was certainly prevalent and must be taken into consideration by HOD managing the change. Bates suggests a strategy to confront the fear is to ensure effective communication with the association that represents the faculty in pay and bargaining negotiations, or as from the case study, implement some form of rewards scheme to motivate this change. Some other issues that need to be addressed in the strategy for PD are: - the difference in profiles between older and younger lecturers with the latter being possibly more open to technology as a tool but the former coming up to retirement, - the profiles of those lecturers that prefer research to teaching - those lecturers that prefer face-to-face personal interactions and who feel that personal interaction and knowledge of individual students is the most rewarding aspect need to be instructed in how aspects of the new technology can enahnce interaction through such features as student discussion forums. On a more practical level Bates uses the example of Collège Boréal to suggest a faculty support system structure. Younger faculty members are trained in the use of the technology for teaching and they are then allocated in a ratio of 1 to 20 other faculty mambers as a support team. They report to a central educational technology unit but are delegated a particular disciplinary area. In addition to these "specialists" the central unit comprises other specialist staff members who train but also work on specific projects and provide advice and help. This college set aside 3 hours on a particular day, every week, where classes were suspended in order to support faculty in the design of their teaching, use of technology and training on how to fix technical problems. Bates advises that a ratio of 1 technical support person to 20/30 staff members is necessary if the lecturers are not to be overloaded and that the should be physically positioned close to the department that they are supporting. In addition, at least 1 instructional design person should be present for 30 – 50 instructors and local support teams will need to comrpise other specialized staff depending on the particular technology used. This investment in support staff is fundamental to the success of implementation.

Bates goes on to discuss copyright issues but as Moodle is open source and this is not directly related to PD I have not included it

x. Evaluating Professional Development