Technology, and how it fits into the educational landscape, has been an increasing priority for leaders for years as technology has become increasingly affordable, available and embedded in school and beyond. But in spite of this, the extent to which technology would come to play a role in learning and teaching, and the steps that would be needed to ensure it could be used by teachers and students meaningfully and sustainably came as a shock to many of us when our schools were forced to close due to the COVID-19 crisis. In light of this, now more than ever, technology is fighting for space at the top of the school development priority list and we are presented with an opportunity to make strategic, pedagogically-driven decisions about how we embed and use technology in our educational contexts so that we can move forwards and plan for sustainable and purposeful technology integration for the long term. 

Katierose Deos and Sarah Gilmore have worked with leaders and educators around the world and through this work have identified six interconnected elements that must be considered when working to integrate technology at the classroom, school, district, and even national level:

  • Vision and purpose for technology’s role in learning and teaching

  • Teacher and school community mindsets around technology

  • Pedagogical practice, and how to plan for and scaffold technology integration in teaching

  • The role of curriculum in teaching with, through and about technology

  • Pedagogical approaches to systems, resources and infrastructure

  • Leadership of technology development

In this four week, twelve hour online course, Katierose and Sarah, authors of ‘Integrating Technology: A School-Wide Framework to Enhance Learning’, will guide and support you in understanding and developing each of these six elements, and taking a holistic, school-wide approach to developing, implementing and embedding technology in learning and teaching in your context. You will build from your current understanding and approach, to create a sustainable, purpose-driven approach to technology integration that will prepare your school for future challenges. Through a balance of reading and video materials, asynchronous tasks, and personalised support that prepare you for four weekly live, collaborative group video sessions, you will explore the guiding questions below and by the end of the course you will have developed an individual leadership action plan based on the needs, strengths and challenges of your school that will guide your next steps of development, with our support.

Guiding questions:

  • What is, or should be, technology’s purpose and role in learning and teaching? How can we embed that purpose in our school identity and approach to learning and teaching?

  • What effect does mindset have on how teachers teach with technology, and how can you best work to develop a positive technology mindset in your organization?

  • How can teachers sustainably plan for and scaffold purposeful learning experiences with technology?

  • What does it mean to teach with, about and through technology across the curriculum?

  • How can teachers use the opportunities technology tools allow them to address the challenges they and their students face in communicating, collaborating and constructing understanding?

  • To what extent is the approach to infrastructure, systems and resources in your context pedagogically driven, and what action can you take to develop a more sustainable, strategic approach to resourcing that reflects your school’s purpose and vision for technology?

  • What approaches can you take to leading and supporting the development of purposeful technology integration in your school community that are sustainable, holistic, and effective?

  • What can we learn and apply in the future from the school closures during COVID-19 that will allow us to build on and benefit from the opportunities that blended, hybrid, or remote learning can offer? How can we be prepared to maintain continuity of learning when our schools close in the future (for a variety of reasons)? 

Audience and resources:

Instructional Coaches, technology coaches and specialists, teacher leaders, curriculum coordinators, administrators and leaders from the school to national levels at all levels of education from Kindergarten to Higher Education and Further Education. 

We also welcome teachers from Elementary through to Higher Education of all subject specialisms who are currently teaching with technology, or who wish to prepare to teach effectively with technology (in the classroom and remotely) and who have an interest in deepening their knowledge and understanding about technology integration at the school or broader educational level.

The cost of registration includes a digital copy of ‘Integrating Technology: A School-Wide Framework to Enhance Learning’, which is used as a key resource during both live sessions and independent activities.

During this course we will use a range of classroom technology tools and platforms to model and simulate learning with technology including, but not limited to:

  • Flipgrid

  • Google Classroom

  • Google Forms & Slides

  • Padlet

  • Mentimeter

  • Zoom

Because this course employs a “flipped classroom” teaching model, participants will access reading and video resources and engage in independent activities in the week preceding live sessions. During live sessions, collaborative activities and group discussions will be used to explore the independently accessed content more deeply. 

As such, the course begins one week before the first live video session to allow participants to engage with introductory materials and asynchronous tasks before going deeper with the course instructors and fellow participants. Participants will receive instructions to join the course digital classroom following completion of registration and should please do so by the course start date to allow sufficient time to engage meaningfully with these resources.