In today’s world it has become imperative to integrate technology into classroom, entire school or school district, usage of which is learned either through teacher education or education leadership programmes, trial and error and professional development. Following are the six areas of technology professional development for teachers and administrators:
Digital Literacy– Print medium is phasing out and digitization is the new norm. Educators are required to teach students digital literacy in the classroom and professional development for same is a necessity.
Virtual Reality– To make the most of the virtual reality in the classroom the teachers who do not understand how to use this technology need professional development.
Cloud Computing– Cloud computing has a vast potential in relation to educational collaboration i.e. teacher-to-teacher, teacher-to-parent and teacher-to-student applications. Academic expectations along with actual student work can be better accessed using a common location. Professional development is advisable to make teaching and learning process more efficient.
Makerspaces– Makerspaces are good for educating students in STEAM and digital and information literacy. To make such makerspaces maximize student performances quality professional development for guidance and support is required.
Gamification– Even though educators do understand the basic concept of gamification but still professional development is required to understand the best practices for maximizing its effects on student learning.
Virtual Laboratories– These web applications give students a chance to perform physical science experiments as many times from anywhere till they get it right. Since it is a relatively new technology, teachers need to be trained on how to implement it in their STEM classrooms.
