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I first came up with a survey of around ten questions that are related to technologies that teachers could utilize in their high school content areas. I started out with general questions that were designed to evaluate the interest in learning technologies that teachers could utilize in their courses. The first question was for teachers to select a web-based technology that they would want to learn more about. Each web-based technology in the list had a brief description of what it does so teachers would not be confused. I also made the an extensive list to open teachers to the possible opportunities that they may be missing out on. I listed 14 tools that I have used and felt comfortable developing an instruction program for. Of the list 15 out of 32 respondents chose Google Docs and Quizlet had the second largest with about 5. Edmodo fell in third right behind Quizlet with 4. I then went on to ask teachers specific questions that would lead into the specific needs of technology in their classrooms. I thought, maybe some of the teachers do not know much about these technologies so my next set of specific questions would ask teachers about specific needs for their classrooms. I also wanted to know if they even used technology in their classes to see if they would even be receptive to a professional development for their classrooms.

Going forward I learned that many teachers want to know more about Google Docs. About half of the teachers seemed to be leery of using social media like blogs to communicate with students outside of school. I had a great number of teachers that wanted to know more about class websites and others wanted to know how to use some of the equipment that was installed in their rooms and received very little training about it. It also looks as though many teachers are receptive to the training and want to improve their repertoire, but just don’t feel like they have the time to pursue it.

After reviewing the results I am going to combine two tools in one seamless training. I was thinking that I could pull in more participants if I chose to teach Google Docs tools through the Edmodo environment. This would allow teachers to learn what the masses have made known as well as expose them to the Edmodo environment that they may eventually see the uses for their classroom. Edmodo really encompasses social media tools like blogs and quiz builders that some teachers surveyed wanted to know more about. The teachers will be instructed in Google Docs through Edmodo and they won’t even realize until the end that Edmodo was being instructed as well. About half of the teachers surveyed state that a blended model would be best for them while 10% like the idea of participating completely online. I can satisfy both of these groups by having an initial instruction to set up the groups in Edmodo and discuss the structure of the professional development in the Edmodo environment and I can have a final class to answer any other remaining questions after the online delivery of the instruction.

I have only have a few concerns going forward. How do I get teachers to come to the initial training? I may have to develop so type of certificate reward for participation much like the Google Apps Ninja training. I might need a catchy title or marketing plan to pique more interest. I will need to get buy in from my administration. I have a pretty supportive administration so I don’t think this will be terribly difficult. I am a bit concerned about the amount of time for the training to be completed once I have built the professional development. I think I will start the class a few weeks before school gets out for the summer and over the summer teachers can work through the modules and then the group can reconvene during preplanning the following school year. Of course there may be a few teachers that end up at other schools or school districts but this problem will be very minimal and it will be remedied very easily through communication tools in Edmodo.