I recently read the article “Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach” from Education Week.  The author, Benjamin Herold, pointed out the giant elephant in the room: we have spent millions of dollars on technology, but we are still teaching the way we did in the past.  Why?  While he points out many reasons, one stuck out to me:

“…[more important] may be teachers’ level of confidence in trying it out in their classrooms.  If they do not believe that they can use technology to accomplish their classroom goals, they appear unlikely to seriously attempt. it.”

This speaks volumes to how we need to structure our professional development.  It’s one thing to teach about the tool – it’s another to showcase instructional strategies with a specific tool or set of tools.  While there is a time and place for training and teaching staff how a tool works, we must provide guidance and support for utilizing that tool in the classroom.