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Professional Development in a Technological Age: New Definitions, Old Challenges, New Resources

author: Cathy Miles Grant
description: This paper looks broadly at the field of professional development and the underlying principles that guide current approaches. The paper suggests specific issues that come with the process of supporting teachers in technology use, and concludes with a discussion of ways that current technologies offer resources to meet these challenges and provide teachers with a cluster of supports that help them continue to grow in their professional skills, understandings, and interests.

published in: paper from "Technology Infusion and School Change," TERC
published: 05/01/1996
posted to site: 06/25/1998

CONCLUSION

Schools must become places of intellectual challenge, learning and growth, settings which nurture qualities of thinking that set the stage for a lifetime passion for learning. For this to occur, teachers must be provided with rich, varied and empowering contexts for their own development, through formal and informal means of professional support. Technology can provide a means of offering new forms of professional development and support. Many of the features of telecommunications and multimedia technology are particularly promising for overcoming some of the constraints presented in traditional methods of professional development. The challenge now facing educators is finding ways to take what has been learned about professional development and about the uses of technology in learning and use these understandings to bring about rich and effective models of professional growth and support for all teachers.

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Additional Readings

Clift, R. T., Houston, W. R., & Pugach, M. C. (1990). Encouraging reflective practice in education: An analysis of issues and programs. New York: Teachers College Press.

Cuban, L. (1986). Teachers and machines: The classroom use of technology since 1920. New York: Teachers College Press.

Doubler, S., & Rigby, B. (1995). Is what I'm doing project work? Cambridge, Massachusetts: TERC.

Herman, J. L. (1994). Evaluating the effects of technology in school reform. In B. Means (Ed.), Technology and education reform: Reality behind the promise. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Holly, P. (1991). Action Research: The missing link in the creation of schools as centers of inquiry. In A. Lieberman & L. Miller (Eds.), Staff development for education in the 90's: New demands, new realities, new perspectives. New York: Teachers College Press.

Holmes Group. (1992). Tomorrow's schools: Principles for the design of professional development schools. East Lansing, MI: Author.

Hord, S. M., Rutherford, W. L., Huling-Austin, L., & Hall, G. E. (1987). Taking charge of change. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Loucks-Horsley, S., & Stiegelbauer, S. (1991). Using knowledge of change to guide staff development. In A. Lieberman & L. Miller (Eds.), Staff development for education in the 90's: New demands, new realities, new perspectives.. New York: Teachers College Press.

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