Competency Levels
The capabilities of school staff as they develop expertise in the use of technology for teaching and learning can be defined within 4 stages or categories:
- Entry level (awareness) — staff are beginning to see the benefits of technology and are exploring its role in education.
- Intermediate — all staff have accepted that technology has a role in education and are beginning to use technology in instruction.
- Advanced — staff have embraced educational technology by engaging in the integration of technology in teaching and learning. Staff participate in professional development around ICT and digital learning. Staff have embraced the development of supportive infrastructure.
- Target (transformation) — staff seek to create new learning environments through the use and support of educational technology.
adapted from Bureau of Educational Technology, Florida Department of Education (2003; 2008; 2015)
If you are now required to provide digital teaching and learning, you should at least be at the Intermediate stage and preferably in stage 3 or 4. If not, this course will help you to get there.
Rubric
Here are the expectations for educators at each of the four levels:
| Digital Learning Characteristics and Activities | |
| 1 | Teachers at this level will actually try a new technology in the classroom. Traditional practices still dominate, but new technologies are not resisted. It is at this level that the teacher is most vulnerable. Failure of the attempt for whatever reason can be discouraging and even frightening, reducing educator confidence and willingness to further explore possibilities. If you find yourself in this situation it is important to discuss your concerns with colleagues. Refer to what you wrote in the first Activity in this course. |
| 2 |
At the intermediate level, particularly in the early stages of implementation, teachers will use technology by choice rather than direction. This is primarily due to their personal level of comfort and familiarity with the technology. For example, many teachers who use iPads or tablets in the classroom do so because they also use them at home. As the teacher becomes more comfortable with the use of technology, activities progress beyond simple page-turning activities to the point at which there is a change in how the teacher actually thinks about his or her classroom experiences in the presence of technology. New practices begin to appear because of this new thinking and more traditional practices are questioned in light of the new possibilities. It is at this level that teachers begin to re-examine teaching and learning activities in the context of providing digital learning experiences. |
| 3 | Teachers continue the process of re-thinking their teaching strategies and engage more proactively in professional development about digital learning. There is a profound change in emphasis, from the use of technologies to assist current teaching practices, to an emphasis on new teaching and learning styles, practices, and opportunities. Teachers at this level are willing to embrace anything new related to digital learning as long as it clearly facilitates learning. Technology is no longer a focus of concern, with the shift in focus to what it can do to improve teaching and learning. |
| 4 | At this level, technology as an instructional medium becomes part of the educational landscape to the point where the teacher views it as a necessary component of strategies to improve teaching and learning, and increased student achievement. New teaching practices replace traditional practices which are viewed as obsolete. |
Assignment:
Click on the resource link to download and complete the Technology-related Activities worksheet.
Create your own copy of the worksheet in MS Word format (.doc or .docx). Complete the chart and answer the reflection questions that follow. Use the tool provided below to upload a copy of your completed work.