With Chromebooks and iPads becoming more prevalent in today's classrooms, more administrators and tech personnel are finding it necessary to teach the teachers on the uses of technology in the classroom.
Here are some sure-fire ways to get the staff on board using new technology:
1. Ok, this one is simple. Introduce it on a PD day. Show off that shiny new Chromebook at a professional development. Show the staff how this hunk of a machine will benefit them and their students in the classroom.
2. Invite teachers to sign up for an account before the PD. Ask teachers to sign up for an Instagram or Twitter account before the PD, this way, they’ll be able to participate in the meeting. They don’t necessarily have to start using Twitter or Instagram, but at least come with an account in hand.
3. Food! Have a Taco Tech Tuesday. Yes, unfortunately, someone is going to have to shell out a couple of bucks for the taco’s but a happy, full staff is a productive staff. It definitely offers them an incentive when you’ve provided some tacos. Now, it’s not just a training, but it’s more of an event.
4. Get the staff using the software before a big PD day. Perhaps you’ve got an English Learner class that could use some new life injected into it. Tell the teacher about something like “Duolingo.” Show them how it works and perhaps demo a lesson. Show the teacher what a benefit it would be in their class and how easy it is to use. A teacher wants to spice up their lectures? Pull them aside and show them all the great things they can do with PearDeck or Nearpod.
5. Institute the app school-wide. Take Google Classroom, the much loved Google Education app. You can have different departments use Google Classroom as a depository for lessons. You've essentially created a professional learning network using Google Classroom. Each department can have a Google Classroom where they can deposit lesson plans for other teachers in their department to peruse. You taught Economics last year and the new Econ teacher is looking for ideas, simply point them to the Google Classroom for their department.
6. Use it for a PD. That is, don’t make the app the center of the PD, but use it to facilitate the PD. For example, Google has a great way to use Google Slides with an audience with Google Slides Q&A. Instead of that same old boring PowerPoint where questions are asked during the presentation, sometimes breaking the flow of the meeting, simply ask the staff to sign on to the presentation using their device. Once they’re part of the presentation, they can ask questions using the app. In most cases, once they see how it worked in the PD, they’ll want to incorporate it into their own classrooms. Same with other interactive presentation software such as PearDeck or Nearpod.
7. Show up at their department meetings. Instead of taking on the whole staff, work with the staff in small chunks. It's like having a small class, you can be more hands-on and easily address questions they may have. In most cases, they’ll share with other teachers how they’re using the app, and they’ll tell two friends, and so on and so on.
8. Summarize a PD or check for understanding using a game! That’s right, a game! Look, just because they’re adults doesn’t mean they don’t like to play games once in a while. Create some Kahoot questions or put some questions in Socrative and create a racing game. Again, using the technology will get teachers wanting to use it in their classroom. Most will find the staff meeting fun and engaging.
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