Transforming Classroom Practice: Technology Professional Development that Works!

Technology professional development workshops primarily focus on technical skill training, and these skills are often taught out of context and seem remote from classroom practice. How can educators learn how to teach with technology in a variety of disciplinary areas so that their professional learning experiences are considered valuable and are readily integrated into their teaching practice? This paper presents a professional development workshop model, called the TPACK-based Professional Learning Design Model (PLDM), that is a practical and efficient method for engaging teachers and teacher candidates in the development of tech-enhanced teaching practice. The workshop model uses four specific types of professional development experiences to promote teaching with technology, rather than teaching the technology, with the goal that teachers leave the workshop being able to understand how to integrate one tech-enhanced activity into their own daily instructional practices.