Feb
18
Vendors as a Professional Development Resource
February 18, 2006 | |
As a long-time teacher trainer, I’ve recently been asking myself a question I thought I would never ask: can vendors provide my faculty with some of our technology professional development?
I always had a basic aversion to this concept, holding tight to the idea that teacher training is highly customized and personal, and is best performed by fellow teacher-types rather than by someone with a product to sell. Even though I have spent various parts of my career making a living as an educational technology consultant and as a technology speaker at a larger company, I still always saw myself as a teacher of teachers rather than as a vendor pushing a product.
At Macworld this year, I was struck by how many of the big vendor booths featured dynamic, engaging software trainers who did an excellent job of showcasing the various products and their features. While this type of training is obviously sales-oriented, perhaps there is a place for it in schools — especially if it is free-of-charge. My thinking is that once in a while it might be exciting for teachers to be dazzled by what’s out there, and to be given an opportunity to check out the latest and greatest stuff without attending a trade show.
Since Macworld, we invited our local Apple rep to host an “Introduction to Podcasting” workshop afterschool in our computer lab. This 2-hour presentation was not hands-on, however the presenter provided the teachers with an excellent overview of some of the terrific school and classroom podcasts out there, a list of rationales for podcasting and a very thorough step-by-step interactive presentation of how to use GarageBand in conjunction with Keynote, iTunes and a .mac account to easily publish podcasts. And Apple even provided the soda, pretzels and cookies! We invited colleagues from several neighboring schools, so the added benefit was the opportunity to build connections with other teachers in the area. Yes, it was a little bit “commercially” at times, but the good will created by the Apple folks, and the excitement they generated with the participants made it a real win-win situation.
On Friday, I attended another Apple-sponsored event at Del Mar School in Tiburon, CA, to hear about their 5-month old 1:1 laptop program for 6-8 graders. The focus was entirely on student learning, faculty innovation, parent excitement and the nuts and bolts of how to get a 1:1 program off the ground. Apple provided a beautiful lunch at an upscale Italian restaurant, the event provided a glimpse into a neighboring school demonstrating what’s possible, and attendees were given a fantasting networking and brainstorming forum free-of-charge. Teachers at Del Mar spoke glowingly of their participation in an every-other-year intensive Vanguard training program they can attend through Apple as well.
Next up, Gateway. Around 10 of our faculty members (including me) have been piloting the latest Gateway tablet pc laptops. We have invited all of the technology leaders from local independent schools and our neighboring public schools to come to an afternoon presentation from Gateway about teaching and learning with tablets on March 16th. I’ll report back after the presentation. The agenda looks great, and so far the only difference is that while the Gateway reps have offered to pay for the snacks, we have to go out and buy them! 
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