My Role as a Technology Coach & the ISTE Standards for Coaches

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) aligns six key areas for instructional coaches to use as guidelines for integrating technology into curriculum. The following is a summary of how each standard applies to my position as Director of Instructional Technology for Castleberry ISD.

Visionary Leadership – As Castleberry ISD continues to expand the one-to-one initiative, I have had a vital role in planning, communicating and implementing technology infusion in the classrooms. I have worked with leadership teams, instructional rounds teams, and teachers to provide resources that assist in the development of improvement plans, lesson plans, and most of all the district technology plan.

Teaching, Learning, and Assessments – As a technology coach, my main goal is to provide the support that teachers need to develop lesson activities that target the objectives for the unit while instilling 21^st Century Skills so that students are empowered to take control of their own learning. Not only do I provide support, but I model skills and activities in professional development sessions that teachers can use in their own classrooms. 

Digital Age Learning Environments - This year, we will be using Canvas as our LMS. This platform will enable teachers to plan, provide students resources, and assess students within one application. Additionally, applications such as Google Drive and Office 365 can be utilized as collaboration tools.

Professional Development and Program Evaluation - I look forward to expanding teacher learning through Twitter edchats and modeling professional development sessions similar to ed camps. Also, the ability to offer professional development trainings utilizing Canvas LMS not only models the use of the online classroom, but gives teachers a chance to view the LLMS as a student would. Another tool that we will be utilizing this school year is BrightBytes. BrightBytes is a survey that students, staff, and parents complete on the integration of technology. This survey tool will provide data that will guide the type of professional development and support needed to continue to grow in the infusion of technology.

Digital Citizenship – As a technology coach, I will continue to review and update responsible use policies each year. I will also work with assistant principals as they prepare presentations to present to students and parents on responsible use and digital citizenship. We will continue to seek opportunities for students to collaborate with other students outside of Castleberry ISD on class projects. And finally, we are going to pilot a blended learning environment at the high school where students meet in places outside of the classroom to work on project based lessons.

Content Knowledge and Professional Growth – In order to succeed, we must all continue to grow. I will complete my Master’s in Learning Technologies this next May. The skills and strategies that I learn will be shared through professional development sessions that I offer. I will continue to seek trainings and resources so that will enhance my knowledge base in technology integration so that what I learn can be shared with the teachers that I serve.

Reflections on the Outcome of Branding Yourself as a Digital Leader Training

For project B, I worked very closely with Renee Smith-Faulkner as we designed training for the district leadership team on building a digital brand. As new administrators and district leaders are hired in the district, we needed a training that we could offer them to catch them up with where our other administrators are as digital leaders. This was a very large project so it was nice to work with Renee to complete this project. 

In looking at the outcome, all participants were very positive about their experience in the trainings. There were only a couple of issues. First, in the day 2 “Why Brand” activity, using Realtime Board did not work. Even though the participants were invited to use the board, most still had issues accessing it. The instructors quickly changed the means to share the group’s findings by having them add information on a shared Google doc. Next time, I will want to create this activity in Google Slides so that each group will have a slide to share their findings. The other big issue was time. We packed these days full of activities. However, the participants requested that they have more time to fully develop the artifacts for each activity. Other than those two issues, the participants felt that the training was very beneficial and well worth their time to attend.

Peer editing was a constant throughout the design of this training module. Renee and I would look over each other’s work as each part was completed. Through this peer editing process, we were able to find small issues before we presented the design document and job aid to our clients. Also, by constantly editing each other, we were able to stay consistent in our design so that all parts worked effortlessly together. Once we felt comfortable with the design, we would then have our clients look over the design document and job aid to make sure everything needed was included. Because we had used their input to create the training, there were not any issues that had to be corrected from their review of the document other than a minor spelling or grammar change here and there. 

Once the training was over, we sat down with our clients to go over the training. They felt that the training went very well. They too felt that time was an issue so we will add more time when we provide this training if the future. They felt that the atmosphere of the training was very positive and the participants were very grateful for being asked to participate in the training. They also let us know the issues they had with Realtime Board and that they quickly resolved the issue with a shared Google doc. I felt that this training was very well organized and look forward to offering it again as new administrators begin working in our district.

What I Have Learned About Instructional Design

Designing instruction is not completely new to me. As an educator, I designed instruction on a daily basis as I prepared lesson plans each day. Fourteen years ago, I moved from the classroom into the Technology Department as an Instructional Technologist with one of my main focuses on training teachers on technology infusion. However, I never had put a name to the process that I would go through as I designed these lessons/trainings. 

In this instructional design course, I learned that the process is called the ADDIE process. As I looked back over my previous attempts at instructional design, I realized that I did basically go through these steps. From surveys and observations, I was able to see where weaknesses existed. From those findings, I would then begin to design and develop the training. One thing that I did learn in this class is that the more planning that goes into the design, the easier it is to develop the instruction. Taking the analysis, building the goals and objectives, and developing the activities are so closely related to each other that the more you include in the first two areas, the easier the process is in the development stage. Another new idea that was presented in the course was to list the needs of the participants and the instructor. This is something I have never done before. I see how looking at the needs of the participants can help guide the designer in the types of activities to include.

From the evaluation, I learned several things. First, when I had the client look over the job aid, she found a couple of areas that did not make sense to her. Normally I am creating trainings where I am the instructor as well. When creating for someone else, it is so important to be clear in all of the instruction steps. Also, in looking at the feedback provided by the participants, I found that they were all enlightened by the training. The main concern was that they thought they needed more time on the activities in order to fully develop the artifacts for each activity. After looking back over the design, I could see that adding more time would be a good update to this module for future trainings. 

I believe that this process of designing instruction is going to improve the quality of the trainings that I provide in the future. I will pay closer attention to the details up front to ensure that the training runs smoothly. I do not know that I will design instruction for others, but I do know that I will provide numerous trainings each year for teachers as we continue to build our one-to-one program in our district.

What is Designing Instruction?

Instruction can take on many different forms; however, with any form of instruction, the design can be a daunting task. So what does it mean to design instruction? We see instruction given in the form of posters, signs, videos, face-to-face classes, online classes, and the list goes on. However, in order for the instruction to be effective, sound principles of design must be incorporated. As I have learned about instructional design this semester, I have realized that these principles can also be applied to preparing lessons in the classroom. Without proper planning, the lessons would not be as powerful.

With any planning, the first step is to determine what the problem is that needs to be addressed. To do this, an analysis must be conducted. Through the analysis, the needs of the learner are identified. Once these needs are determined, then the design of the instruction can begin. In the design process, the goals and objectives will be identified. Then it is time to develop the instruction. The designer must look at the audience and the environment to decide what type of instruction should be created. During the development of the instruction, careful attention must be paid to the details of aligning the activities to the goals and objectives. Also, how mastery of the goals and objectives will be assessed must also be identified. Finally, it is time to see how the design is going to work through the implementation of the instruction. Once the implementation has occurred, it is time to go back and evaluate the instruction so that the design of future instruction will be enhanced.

What skills must an individual possess in order to design instruction professionally? I believe there are several skills a designer must have. First, the designer must have great communication skills to be able to design what is best for their client. The designer must know the questions to ask of their client to get valid information for the design.  Next, the designer must have organizational skills. As data is collected through analysis of the situation and through interviews with their client, the designer must be able to organize and use the data to enhance the design of the instruction. Additionally, the designer must be flexible. When working with a client, activities, assessments, or even the flow of the instruction may need to be changed to fit the needs of the client or the students. Finally, the designer must be proactive in the design. In other words, they must always think and work ahead to minimize delays in completing the design of the instruction.

In addition to the skills mentioned above, the designer must also be able to understand the material to be taught in the instruction. They may need to rely on their client to be the master of the material, but the designer must know the best strategies to master the set goals and objectives. If the designer lacks the knowledge of the material to be taught, mastery of the instruction could be compromised.  Designing instruction is not a simple task. It takes diligent work, time, organization, and communication to effectively design instruction.