Describe what your school’s new teacher technology orientation looks like. What suggestions do you have to improve the orientation?
When new teachers are hired at KIS they receive a KIS Google login which gives them access to their school email account and the ability to connect with their building-level administrators and teachers in their departments via Google Apps for Education. Principals, Department Heads, New-Hire Buddies, and our Faculty Support team begin communicating with new hires via email and share with them documents that can support them in their transition to Korea and to KIS. The majority of technology training (Schoology, PowerSchool, Google Apps, MacBook, iPad) happens once teachers arrive on campus and is delivered in the FishBowl during New Teacher Orientation.
Something new coming to KIS.
KIS EdTech director states, “This year we are planning to take some of this training online using a resource called “Synergyse” which will allow new teachers the ability to train remotely on the programs and platforms pertinent to their jobs at KIS. The hope here is that new faculty who initiate some self-study ahead of time will have increased time in their classrooms in the lead up to the first day of school rather than spending time in tech-based orientation sessions. This remote training will feature screen casts, follow-along tutorials, and interactive lessons and will be tracked on the back-end by our technology team. Teachers who complete the lessons will be excused from mandatory training sessions.”
I would encourage the EdTech team to break up and pick new staff that they will check up on maybe weekly, the first month, then monthly. I believe having a strong accountability in technology is important for new staff coming in. It could be a quick email asking “How’s it going with your tech? Is there anything that you need help on?”
If the Edtech team reaches out to new staff, and make sure they hit the ground running, they will get a win early.
Synergyse will give teachers the opportunity for a self-paced PD, focused on exactly what each person needs. We use it at ISKL and the teachers seem to like it.
ReplyDeleteSynergy is a great used by many schools (although not at Singapore American). The difficulty is getting the balance right between getting teachers the tools they need for the job while also developing the technology coach/teacher relationship which in the long run is what leads to collaboration and potentially even greater student learning and engagement outcomes. Nice post Sean.
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