Content starts here
Professional Development
The goal of HP’s Professional Development program is to improve teaching and student learning through the
effective integration of technology in the classroom in a way that is engaging and valuable. To accomplish
this, the program has participants interact with an experienced educator mentor, and each other, in ongoing
online activities.
The program’s innovative design includes the following:
- Participants work in teams of 4 - 6 (there are minimum requirements for a total team size) over an extended period of time, building collaborative, project-based learning into the program and giving educators a chance to try new skills in the classroom and receive coaching and guidance as they do so.
- A mentor is assigned to each team. These experienced educators bring important expertise and assistance, necessary to assure success.
- Participants receive high-quality individualized professional development. At the same time, teams put into action their new capabilities to design and implement a cross-classroom project that uses technology to enhance content learning through student-centered activities.
- A common structure for project planning, implementation and assessment that ties together the work of the entire team with the individualized learning plans, based on self-assessments and mentor input.
Benefits of the HP Professional Development program
The HP Professional Development program is designed for teams of educators who are focused on increasing their
effectiveness on student learning, through the integration of technology. The program takes a project-based approach,
customizing the materials and focus to each team’s context.
By the end of the program, participants will:
- Increase their understanding of technology standards;
- Increase the alignment of their practice with the standards;
- Improve their practice with the latest research on the effective integration of technology in education;
- Use action research to apply this knowledge in their classroom and/or school
- Use the data from this action research to scale their efforts school-wide.
Components of the HP Professional Development Program
1. Orientation, Assessment and Planning
- Overview of technology standards: Introduction of standards and the latest research on effective technology integration.
- Self-Assessment: Teams and individual participants assess their current knowledge of, and alignment with, technology standards and research.
- Individualized Learning Program Design: Individuals work with their Teams’ mentor to identify their professional development focus, set specific goals, and identify the criteria for success in their professional development, and use of technology in his/her classroom
- Team Planning: Teams work with the mentor to draft their team action plan, define goals, roles and responsibilities, and the measurements they will use for gauging progress and outcomes.
- Networking: Participants meet with their job-alike group to share experiences and questions that are specific to their role in the school and district.
- Orientation to the Online Community: Participants enrol in the online community and begin planning their work. Each team receives accounts in the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) Online Learning Community and a workspace for their school’s involvement in the project.
- Following the planning described above, each team will post in their team workspace a team action plan that specifies:
- A team project that aligns with the school’s technology and learning goals for the year;
- How technology will be used to implement this project;
- The individual roles of each team member in implementing the project;
- The timelines and milestones for the project;
- The measures that they will use to gauge the impact of their project on teaching and learning.
Individualized Professional Development Plans that describe:
- The current state of the individual teacher’s knowledge and skills related to enhancing instruction with technology;
- The individual teacher’s identified learning needs, based on his/her role in the team project and areas of needed growth shown in the assessment of his/her current knowledge and skills;
- The online courses and materials that the individual teacher will pursue to further the learning goals and find the resources and materials to support the team project.
2. Online Activities Period: 6 months (minimum) - a school year
- Participants receive a professional development purchasing account, access to an online community and mentoring, and a membership in the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
- Mentored Project Work: Teams work with their mentor to plan, implement and evaluate their action research projects, building on the focus set in the Opening session.
- Individualized Learning: Each team member pursues his/her professional development, using the materials and online courses identified with the team and keeping a learning journal of how he/she is applying these materials, skills and practices in the classrooms. Using the action research framework begun with the mentor at the start of the program, teachers will work with the mentor to assess progress towards goals and to consult on next steps and/or needed changes.
The mentor actively leads the group of teachers through the action research process over the course of the professional development period. During the parts of those cycles when teachers are engaged in the materials and/or courses, the mentors are available to the teachers on an informal basis through e-mail and phone.
- Online Experts: Throughout the online activities, participants can access experts in the field through synchronous chat sessions.
- Database of Resources: Participants have ongoing access to a database of resources, including research, best practices, lesson plans, online tools and network of other educators
3. Outcomes, Impact and Next Steps
At the close of the professional development period, the team members take a post-assessment, and the team collates their
learning journals into a final report that details what the team has learned, what it means for their school, and what
they have identified as next steps for continuing and spreading the impact of the program.
- Teams present the outcomes of their project work to each other.
- Forward Planning: Teams work with their mentors, and take the data gathered in their project and plan for the next level of impact at the school-wide level.
