Educators recognize that they need to create new learning and teaching environments where the curriculum and instructional tools reflect today's world. Schools are full of students who want to engage, socialize, communicate, create, and collaborate in meaningful ways that reflect the world in which they live. How can education re-create itself to…

One of the larger shifts in education is evaluating teacher knowledge acquisition to determine if it is effectively changing the way teachers learn, teach, and bring about student improvement. In the effort to do this, teachers often spend much time on administrative duties, such as documenting what classes or workshops they have taken, and this…

MOOCs--massive open online courses--are all the rage these days, with hundreds of thousands of participants signing up and investors plunking down millions to get a piece of the pie. Why is there so much excitement about this new disruptive form of online learning, and how does this model apply to professional learning for teachers? Traditional…

What will technology-based teacher professional development look like in the next few years? In this article, teacher training curriculum designer Mary Burns presents her 5 top picks from the professional learning technologies now emerging around the world: (1) IPTV; (2) Immersive Environments; (3) Video; (4) Social Media; and (5) Mobile…

The U.S. military has long understood the value of immersive simulations in education. Before the Navy entrusts a ship to a crew, crew members must first practice and demonstrate their competency in a fully immersive, simulated environment. Why not teach students in the same way? K-12 educators in Pennsylvania, USA, recently did just that when…

For more than seven years, Etiwanda School District in California has implemented a districtwide technology integration program that included beginning, intermediate, and advanced professional development training and support for general education teachers. Training included programs such as Intel Teach to the Future and the application of this…

This article discusses how one school system achieved districtwide technology integration through an ongoing professional development (PD) program that encouraged its teachers to learn and lead together. In an effort to prepare students of Kannapolis (North Carolina) City Schools for success in the 21st century, the author, together with three…

Excitement about handhelds must be tempered by an understanding of what is typically required when any new technology is introduced into classrooms. We know, for example, that to succeed, handheld initiatives will need clear educational objectives and a logical theory of action that guides implementation. We can anticipate that teachers will need…

From the time that computer technology became part of the school environment, teachers have been encouraged to integrate technology into their instructional practices. Why not use such valuable tools to extend professional development practices as well? This is a question that the authors raised while working together on digital video staff…

Technology is the key to improving student achievement, but without high-quality professional development, technology will never be successful in fulfilling that role. To create successful professional development, it is necessary to carefully plan programs and activities that model constructivism and take into consideration characteristics of…

In 1999, funding from a federal technology innovation challenge grant and the state of Maryland enabled the creation of the Maryland Technology Academy (MTA). The MTA is a collaboration of Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, and the Maryland State Department of Education formed with the goal of developing a network of knowledgeable and…

Phase 9, a teacher-designed, classroom centered model, takes teachers through a nine-step process that results in the development of integrated instructional units. Teams of teachers come to an intensive five-day training with lessons they know work well with students. In interdisciplinary teams, they fold technology, state and national standards,…