Professional+Learning+&+Responsibility

= Professional Learning and Responsibility = Please add your perspective to the debate by clicking on the discussion tab above and posting a message or a comment)

1. Where do teachers turn to receive professional learning in technology infusion? Teachers as professionals have an obligation to research and apply promising pedagogical practices of all kinds, including infusion of ICT. The SAG group ManACE [] provides teachers teaching teachers in summer institutes, winter workshops, and Technology Infusion Nights (TINs) to assist their peers. Extended education evening courses on ICT skills (ICT literacy, NOT LwICT) are available at local school divisions and Red River College. ICT literacy is no longer ‘optional’, it is a basic life skill for every citizen because in a few years, most things (banking, watching tv, etc) will be done on the web.

2. Is it feasible to purchase laptops for teachers? Of course, teachers need access to ICT resources to develop student (and their own) literacy with ICT, and netbooks [] are a good option due to low cost and ability to access collaborative web-based ‘cloud computing’ applications such as Googledocs, Webspiration, image editing, and social networking. []

3. Should there be a computer teacher and computer assigned classes? Only for specific ICT content courses such as computer science. Teaching learners how to inquire and think critically, creatively, and ethically is the responsibility of every teacher. All teachers need to progress on their own continuum of applying ICT to curriculum as supplementary, complementary, integrated, and infused. []

4. How much flexibility do you allow teachers with different types of computer equipment in their classroom? Is there one particular system (such as Google) that we should use for classroom instruction? There really is no ‘silver bullet’, but web 2.0 tools that allow collaboration over distance are promising. As professionals, teachers need the flexibility to choose and use appropriate ICTs for teaching and learning in their classrooms (Pr2.1). The only position that is non-negotiable is that ICT MUST be used in every classroom: Check out the position of the NCTE on writing in the 21st century [] and the position of NCTM on the role of technology in mathematics []