Activity 1: Inservice Designer activity
 Module 6: Professional Development

Overview & Instructor Notes

This activity should be completed after the groups have developed their draft policy goal and strategic plans. Those documents will form the basis of this activity. The goal of this activity is to cause the participants to think about and discuss many of the components of a professional development inservice.

Participants should be coached to think about making the inservice as relevant to the teachers daily instruction as possible, to design the inservice in such a way that the teacher can use what he/she has learned the very next day in the classroom. That will make the inservice relevant and provide the teacher with the opportunity to continue to practice and improve his/her skills.

This activity will take between 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

Activity

Instructions

In your small groups use the inservice designer to develop an outline of a workshop. Use the draft policy goal and strategic plan that your group has developed as the basis of your work.

Follow through the steps in the designer and make the choices described in each step. Record your choices in each step. When you are complete these choices will be an outline for a professional development activity. Many choices are not exclusive; a combination of some or all options may be the best selection in some cases.

1. Select target group.

2. Choose a skill to be addressed.

3. Choose a strategy:

• Centrally implemented
  A central agency or unit is responsible for creation and implementation of PD processes; members are workshop facilitators or presenters
  
  
• Advocates
  A group of trainers present PD to others who become trainers themselves and present to other groups. Knowledge and skill spreads through the ever-increasing cadre of trainers.
  
  
• Self paced
  Participants learn an ICT skill or set of skills as directed on their own
  
  
• Self directed
  Participants learn ICT skills and knowledge in which they see value or interest

4. Choose source of materials

• Material developed by outside parties
  PD material developed by commercial or other group specifically for use within the jurisdiction
  
  
• Material centrally developed
  PD material developed by a central agency or unit specifically for use within the jurisdiction
  
  
• Material centrally compiled
  PD material collected from other sources by a central agency or unit for use within the jurisdiction
  
  
• Material developed by presenter
  PD material created by the presenter for a particular workshop
  
  
• Material compiled by presenter
  PD material collected from other sources by the presenter for a particular workshop

5. Choose mechanism

• Human presentation with computer and projector
  Presenter demonstrates ICT skills and techniques to a passive audience
  
  
• Human presentation with computer for each participant
  Presenter demonstrates ICT skills and techniques to participants who subsequently practice and explore at their own workstations
  
  
• Video presentation
  Video presentation demonstrates ICT skills and techniques to a passive audience
  
  
• Video presentation with computer for each participant
  Video presentation demonstrates ICT skills and techniques to participants who subsequently practice and explore at their own workstations
  
  
• Networked computer, with communication capability, for each participant
  Participants experience the presentation at their own workstations and practise and explore skills and techniques as directed. Interaction with leader and other participants occurs through use of electronic communication tools.
  
  
• Stand alone computer for each participant with tutorial
  Participants experience the presentation at their own work stations and practise and explore skills and techniques as directed by a tutorial.
  
  
• Stand alone computer for each participant outcome based discovery method
  Participants use resources of their choice to reach an assigned goal or level of competence
  
  
• Unstructured exploration
  Participants determine objectives, resources and methods of inservice to suit their particular needs.

6. Choose venue

• Classroom location
• Central computer lab
• Distributed workstations

7. Choose timing

• Synchronous
  All participants begin together and work together through workshop
  
  
• Asynchronous deadline
  All participants begin together and complete work by a deadline. However, each may work at time of their choice during inservice period
  
  
• Asynchronous open
  All participants begin and complete work at times of their choice.

8. Choose follow up elements

• Evaluation of inservice format and presentation
  Feedback and evaluation mechanism for participants immediately following workshop
  
  
• Evaluation of effectiveness of inservice
  Evaluation of adoption of and use of skill or knowledge by participants in their place of work
  
  
• Recognition of participants
  Certificate or reward for successful participants
  
  
• Future refresher/expansion workshops
  Schedule an expansion or follow up workshop
  
  
• Setting of performance goals and mechanisms to check progress
  Workshop participants agree to continue to work toward specific goals in the subject and support each other through the process