Graduate Research Papers

Availability

Open Access Graduate Research Paper

Abstract

As more institutions of higher education invest in technology, an increased number of educators have to keep up with those technologies. Technology opens new opportunities to teach and to learn. However, if technology is to be used to support learning, educators must first be comfortable using technology. In order for educators to become comfortable and to effectively use technology in their own teaching, staff development opportunities must be set in place. Staff development programs need to be relevant to the specific needs of educators of higher education. Because technology is rapidly changing, it is impossible for educators to know all of the "nuts and bolts" of applying technology into their classrooms. However, educators can participate in activities that are specific to their own needs. Staff development programs need to do just that. Although traditional face-to-face staff development approaches have a poor track record, the use of the World Wide Web has provided new avenues of delivering staff development opportunities to educators. Research has concluded that, although both face-to-face and web-based staff development approaches have advantages and disadvantages, there is no one approach that will meet the staff development needs of all educators. Staff development must be tailored to a specific group of educators if programs are to be successful. This review will attempt to answer the questions, "what staff development approaches, face-to-face or web-based, are effective for training educators in technology use; and what are the areas for future research in professional development for the use of technology?"

Year of Submission

2003

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Department

Division of Educational Technology

First Advisor

J. Ana Donaldson

Second Advisor

Sharon E. Smaldino

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this graduate research paper and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with the URL.

Date Original

2003

Object Description

1 PDF file (36 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Included in

Education Commons

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