Inquiry Blog Post 2: Supporting My ICT Professional Development

A Lego stop-motion animation I helped my son create for school.

ISTE Standards for Education Leaders - Connected Learner: Use technology to regularly engage in reflective practices that support personal and professional growth.

 Miller & Bass p. 104

I was fortunate enough to spend 13 years as a Technology Teacher / Mentor at two different independent schools in Manitoba. In that role, I gave the ICT Professional Development as often as I attended it. Over that time period I was able to develop a number of different ways of supporting my own professional growth with ICT, which I highlight below.

EXPERIMENTATION

The best way to become comfortable with ICT is to use it! For myself, I need to have some comfort with an ICT tool in order to feel confident helping others become comfortable using it - be they students or teachers. To become comfortable with an ICT tool, and get an idea of how it might benefit teachers and students, I would "play" with the tool at home and during preps. At home, I often involved my children in my experimentation, which helped me both learn it and become good at explaining it to others.

Working with the technology, and using the help component of the tool when I got stuck went a long way toward making me comfortable with the technology. A general openness to using technology, and a willingness to make mistakes also helped.

I also learned that no matter how much time I might devote to a piece of technology, my students would spend more. Especially if the technology caught their interest / imagination!

STUDENTS

With time, I learned that at least a few of my students would always be ahead of me in their understanding of technology. When teaching technology you truly are a facilitator, rather than the sole authority. You pretty much have to check your ego at the door, or expect to have it bruised - a lot! I learned this early, and it was one of the best lessons in ICT I think I ever learned. Kids have WAY more disposable time than their teachers, and if something interests them, they will go at it with a vengeance!

The anecdote below outlines the experience in which I learned to expect at least one student to know more than me - and embrace it!

On a Friday afternoon I introduced a class to a wonderful site called Kerpoof (unfortunately Disney bought it an shut it down). I gave them their accounts, did a bit of an intro, and gave them a bit of time to give it a try. I let them know they would get a full class to work with Kerpoof the following week.

The following week I let the students start right into Kerpoof. Part way into the class I stopped for a mini-lesson. During the lesson I pointed out that you could not do something. A student tentatively raised their hand and said in a timid voice "Actually Mr. Wiebe, you can do that". I guess they thought I would be upset at being contradicted. I wasn't, and asked them to explain to the class how to do it.

A little while later the exact same thing happened with the same student. This time they were more confident in raising their hand. I believe they felt more comfortable given how I reacted the first time. After they informed us how to perform a certain task, and where they had found the answer, I looked at them and asked "Did you spend all weekend playing on Kerpoof?" To which they simply replied "Yes!"

There will always be a student who digs into technology further than you, especially if it peaks their interest. They have the time. Embrace it, and make use of their knowledge. It means you have lit a spark!

COLLEAGUES

At my last school I was the Junior school technology specialist. Because we were a K-12 school there were two other tech specialist at the school - one for middle school and one for senior school. This gave me the advantage of having two peers with which to discuss technology and work through challenges. Over my tenure at the school, I had the opportunity to work with 3 different middle school tech specialists and two different senior school tech specialist, giving me the opportunity to gain insights from 5 different perspectives!

I didn't always have peers in the same school whose knowledge and experience I could draw from. To broaden my access to other technology users I became part of different associations.

ASSOCIATIONS

The Manitoba Teachers Society (MTS) promotes what are known as Special Area Groups of Educators, or SAGE. Teachers - current and retired - join these groups to share information and ideas. There are a number of different SAGE groups. While the SAGE groups are focused on hosting MTS PD Day events, some host other learning events throughout the year. Three that I took part in are:

ManACE - Manitoba Association of Computing Educators. This group was a natural fit given my role as a technology educator. ManACE actually hosts learning evenings throughout the year. I was part of the ManACE board for a number of years and even spent a year as President.

MSLA - Manitoba School Library Association. I attended the MSLA SAGE events a few times to see their perspective on ICT. This is a group I would become more involved with as a TL.

Image source: https://www.manitobaschoollibraries.ca/

GAME - Gaming Association of Manitoba Educators. A group whose SAGE event I started taking part in to get AWAY from ICT! I enjoy games and was interested to learn how they were proposing to introduce them in schools.

CONFERENCES

Manitoba has three conference events that provide opportunities for ICT professional development, each of which I attended annually until COVID hit. These events appear to be coming back now that large, in person events are allowed.

Local

MTS PD Day - SAGE (Special Area Groups of Educators) - October event.

There are numerous SAGE groups, and the Literacy with ICT initiative in the province cause many of them to incorporate sessions on ICT. Sessions are usually given by educators who are sharing things that work for them, so the ICT sessions are very practical. This means that you are no longer dependent on ManACE when it comes to ICT professional development, although ManACE is the only groups whose event was distributed throughout the city (and to a small extent the province).

BYTE - February event. Hosted in a different town/city in western Manitoba every two years, this conference offers a Keynote speaker from out of province, and sessions on ICT use in the classroom by teachers for teachers. In general, this event is attended by rural teachers from western Manitoba.

Riding the Wave - May event. Hosted in Gimli Manitoba, this conference offers a Keynote speaker from out of province, and sessions on ICT use in the classroom by teachers for teachers. In general, this 2 day event is attended by teachers from central Manitoba, although it draws teachers from other parts of Manitoba too.

Out of province

During my teaching career I was fortunate enough to get to attend conferences in the U.S.:

Future of Education Technology (FETC) - one of the largest EdTech conferences in North America, FETC is something anyone in EdTech should get the opportunity to experience at least once as it draws people from North America and internationally. I had the opportunity to attend this conference twice.

Image source: https://www.fetc.org/expo

There were a couple of other conferences, one in Memphis for independent schools and another in Palm Springs for California educators (this one was like a mini FETC). I can't find current information on them. That said, different States often have edtech conferences that may be of interest if you can get the PD dollars to attend.

YOUTUBE

When I would run into problems with a piece of technology as a teacher, I would generally turn to my peers first, the tool's website second and the Internet last. In my current role researching Microsoft tool I have become a fan of YouTube. There are numerous individuals out there who take you step-by-step through all sorts of different tools. Three sites I recommend for teachers using Microsoft Teams and 365 are: 

Mike Tholfsen - he's the product lead, so he is a great source of information on Microsoft from an education perspective.

Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCKNe4bSzsU

Microsoft Education - The name is self explanatory. This is where Microsoft supports teachers using Microsoft.

Kevin Stratvert - An ex Microsoft employee, Kevin covers Microsoft and their competitors.

There are others out there I am sure, but as an educator I would focus on the first two in my list if I were using Microsoft.

BLOG

Because Teams and M365 are so common in schools in Manitoba having information on how Microsoft supports education will be helpful if I get back into a school. Other blogs I might follow will depend on the technology I have access to / find through conferences and peer discussions at association events. 

Microsoft Education Blog - I would follow this particular blog to stay current on Microsoft tools from an education perspective.

There are lots of opportunities to create connections and learn about different ICT tools available to teachers and students. I have identified some of those available to me specifically as a Manitoba educator, and some that others can access  in their province.

The key: stay curious!

References

Miller, S., & Bass, W. (2019).  Leading from the Library: Help your School Community Thrive in the Digital Age. International Society for Technology in Education.