Coaching a Winning Game:Developing an All-Star Team of Coaches to Deliver Impactful Tech Professional Development
Abstract: It is imperative that teachers prepare students to be successful in the 21st Century. Educators must teach legacy content as well as how to use technology to think critically, communicate, collaborate, and innovate creatively as they live and work in the world around them. Unfortunately, many teachers (even master educators) are uncomfortable integrating technology in the classroom. Peer coaching for technology integration is one model found to be very successful in helping teachers overcome their fears when learning how to integrate. In this model, technology related professional development is accomplished through a coaching relationship that is differentiated, targeted and immediately applied to their classroom and as a result teachers gain confidence and new pedagogies. This research (36 teachers in a variety of disciplines and grade levels) reveals positive effects of coaching on teachers’ ability to integrate technology, and suggests ideas for optimizing coaching.