Teachers don’t have a lot of time for all the professional development opportunities they need or want. Often, a district needs to prioritize training on academic teaching practices, while technology training is pushed to the back burner.
But the South Washington County district in Minnesota has found a way to provide bite-sized professional development so that teachers can learn tech tips and tricks in ways that make sense for their schedules, said Amber Sorenson, a technology-integration coordinator for the 20,000-student district, during a June 30 presentation at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 here. Sorenson presented with Alison Flaata, also a technology-integration coordinator for the district.
“We felt that our teachers weren’t getting enough professional development related to how to use technology effectively in their classrooms,” Sorenson said. “We took this idea of micro-learning—small chunks of directed professional development—and took all of our tools and translated them in different ways.”
Here are four ways the South Washington County district is providing bite-sized professional development on technology, according to Sorenson:
- Newsletters that discuss different tech tools, tips, and ideas that each school’s tech coach sends out monthly. These newsletters are interactive, and previous issues are available to all teachers.
- Professional development bundles that include a mini slide deck that takes five to 10 minutes to present at a staff meeting, a poster that can be displayed in high-traffic areas, and emails that can be sent out to staff.
- Social media channels, where the tech-integration coordinators share tips related to the district’s digital tools. Teachers are already on those social media apps, and this is a way to reach them there, Sorenson said. For the South Washington County district, the most effective platform is Instagram.
- A “Tech Tip” slide deck for school administrators. It includes information and tips about all the tech tools the district has made available for its educators. Principals can copy a slide onto a deck they might have for their upcoming staff meeting.
These micro professional development opportunities are also more “equitable,” Sorenson said.
“A lot of our PD tends to be optional if it’s tech-related, which creates inequities with staff,” she said. “We’re trying to get a foundation [where] every staff member has these skills.”
If other districts want to try providing bite-sized tech PD, Sorenson recommends connecting the training opportunities to current initiatives so that it doesn’t feel like something extra for teachers. Sorenson and other tech coordinators have also made it easy for staff by providing ready-made resources.
The feedback has, so far, been positive, Sorenson said. Staff members are engaging with the easy professional development opportunities and asking to learn more about certain tech tools.
“We know there’s not enough time,” she said. “We try to sneak it in whenever we can.”
