Fleeting Nature of Professional Development
I was talking with some teachers the other day, and the issue of training came up. As we discussed the topic, I began to realize what they were up against. With more and more network-based applications (whether Internet or from a building server), they face a situation where their software can be changed overnight without anyone touching their computer. One day, the email software will be upgraded, or the gradebook program, or their favorite educational website will sport a new interface. That’s all well and good, but suddenly they are faced with having to learn new things just to do what they were already able to do yesterday. Yes, the new software is probably more effective/productive/whatever, but the fact is the teacher’s ability to use it just went backward.
In other words, not providing professional development for technology does not mean teachers aren’t moving forward - it means they’re moving backwards. We need ongoing training just to stand in place!
Technology is one area where static knowledge can have a short shelf-life. What we learn in an ed tech workshop can start to depreciate in value the moment we walk out the door. Sure, some things have long-lasting value - how to use a TI graphing calculator, basic word processing skills, and so on. However, many other parts of this huge puzzle are in a constant, increasing rate of change. Even simple things like which menu a particular command is hidden will change from one version of a product to the next, and few people have the time or the patience to hunt around for something that just awhile ago was right there.