Susan Byers

Teacher

Trained in Music and English Education, Susan has taught at various Adventist academies since her graduation from Union College (BS) and Andrews University (MA). For the past four years, she has served as Associate Professor of Secondary Education at Union College where she teaches education courses, coordinates field placements, and supervises secondary education student teachers. Current interests include computational thinking and all things related to technology integration. She is finishing a Doctorate in Educational Technology  (D.E.T.) through Central Michigan University.

eachers in the NAD all had a unique opportunity in March 2020 to fill out a survey that informs denominational leadership, teacher education programs, and the teachers themselves about their efficacy in technology integration. With a strong response rate of 12%, a survey of this magnitude became immediately informative. Serving as a “peek in the mirror,” this study revealed how current NAD teachers feel about their strengths and needs in this area. While the extensive survey results are being prepared for a possible journal publication, you can see a summary of teacher requests here.

Along with fairly high scores for efficacy, tool usage, and alignment to standards and a framework, a number of teachers shared their samples of lesson plans for using technology. See chart here. Other teachers expressed concerns that they needed more support and would like to have incentives to keep learning.  Some wondered what to do next in their growth.

In order to keep the denominational education system moving forward, here are some ideas that follow research as they help teachers professionalize their choices for technology integration:

• Understand the technology standards that are expected for you and your students.

• Select a framework (www.tripleeframework.com) to guide your lesson planning .
• Read professional literature.
• Join social media learning communities (Adventist Learning Community, Adventist Teacher Connect; Twitter; Google Educator Groups, etc.).
• Collaborate with colleagues close by and around the world.
• Earn certifications (Google Certified Educator).
• Share what you are doing in class (Adventist Teacher Connect).

Educational leadership has a powerful role to play in teacher efficacy. Along with the ever-expanding NAD technology website resources begun in 2013 (see here), there are creative new approaches to professional development to incorporate, as described in the list and citation below.

• Plan professional learning options that are based on standards.
• Content focused.
• Incorporate active learning.
• Support collaboration.
• Use models of effective practice.
• Provide coaching and expert support.
• Offer feedback and reflection.
• Do all this over a sustained duration (Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Hicks & Sailors, 2018).

Teachers who make these professional choices, backed by the supportive NAD leadership, will be even stronger the next time they "look in the mirror" and have the opportunity to share.

References

Hicks, Troy, and Misty Sailors. 2018. ” Democratizing Professional Growth with Teachers: Form Development to Learning.” International Literacy Association.

Darling-Hammond, Linda, and Maria E. Hyler, Madelyn Gardner, and Danny Espinoza. 2017. ”Effective Teacher