Standards+Question+10


 * Read the Case Study regarding Design on page 23 of the NSDC Standards text handed out in class. In your PLC discuss Discussion Questions 1-3. Have a record keeper in your group synthesize your group's responses to these questions. If your group needed more information, describe what you need to know and how you would go about discovering this information.**

1. What are potential learning designs to consider in addressing specific school and district goals? Learning strategies should be considered and chosen based on what is appropriate to the intended outcome and other situational factors. Staff development leaders must be aware of and skillfull in the application of various learning strategies. Teacher and administrative learning can occur through all kinds of designs, such as collaborative learning designs, the examination of student work, curriculum development, immersion in the work of mathemeticians and scientists, case studies, action research, study groups, and professional networks. Training sessions and coursework must include live or video models of new instructional strategies, demonstrations in teachers' classrooms and coaching or other forms of follow-up if these strategies are going to become a routine part of the teacher's everyday instruction. 2. What are some benefits and concerns associated with providing staff development 'choices' to adults? As mentioned above, learning strategies should be selected based on the intended outcomes and the diagnosis of the teacher' prior knowledge and and experience. An awareness of new ideas is great in a large group presentation, but this isn't going to make a change in the teacher's teaching practice. An extended summer institute with follow-up sessions throughout the school year will strengthen the teachers' content knowledge. A short afternoon session will not achieve the desired goals. Teachers are not likely to adapt their instruction by reading an article, but by joint planning of lessons and the examination of student work with other teachers. 3. What are some benefits and concerns associated with applying technology in the delivery of staff development? Technology provides a useful toll for accessing various means of professional learning. It provides for the individualization of teacher and administrator learning through the use of CDs, email, the internet and other learning processes. Technology allows teachers to follow their unique learning goals within the context of schoolwide staff development plans. They can download lesson plans, conduct research on a particular topic or compare their students' work with that of students in other schools. Technology also makes it possible for teachers to form virtual learning communities with other educators in schools throughout the country and the world. The only concern is time-giving teachers the time to learn and access the technology they need.