Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre

Oregon Department of Education

Salem, OR
 

Introduction/Overview
Organizational Change
Budget & Finance
Professional Development
Technology Infrastructure
Outcomes
Evaluation
Contact Information
 

Introduction/Overview

The Oregon Department of Education (Carla Wade) and the Organization for Educational Technology and Curriculum (Jennifer Arns) have partnered over the past 3 years to provide the opportunity for the Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre to meet for 2 days, three times each academic year. Cadre members include Education Service District Technology specialists, Ed Tech Competitive Grant Project Directors, and Educational Technology Specialist from a few of the largest school districts in Oregon. The goal of the Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre is to build partnerships and work collaboratively to provide leadership in using best practices to effectively integrate different technologies into instruction with the goal of improving classroom teaching, student learning, and professional development for all Oregon educators and pre-K to 20 students.

Outcomes: Learn about new and expanded educator and student resources that support the purpose of the cadre. • Learn about emerging technologies that support the purpose of the cadre. • Share professional expertise with the cadre to extend and enhance each other’s skills and knowledge. • Share new knowledge and skills learned through cadre gatherings with other members of your organization and with the customers served by your organization. • The Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre meets for 2 days, three times each academic year.

Organizational Change

The Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre was born out of a meeting that brought together Education Service District Technology specialists and professional development officers from state professional organizations to launch Marco Polo Oregon. This group of professionals enjoyed the opportunity to learn new things and share information so much that they asked us to try to find a way to continue this type of opportunity. The Oregon Department of Education–ODE (Carla Wade) and the Organization for Educational Technology and Curriculum–OETC (Jennifer Arns) were both conducting professional development in educational technology. The experience of our first Marco Polo Oregon training allowed us to see the potential benefits of collaboration to both of our organizations. ODE (Carla Wade) and OETC (Jennifer Arns) collaborate on planning, facilitating, evaluating, and funding the cadre.

Budget & Finance

The annual costs for the 30–35 participants in the Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre are about $12,000 to $15,000. (Costs vary with location, length, and topic-related expenses.) Expenses are covered from three main sources: (1) Oregon Title IID SEA funds, (2) Organization for Educational Technology and Curriculum (OETC) professional development funds, and (3) Ed Tech Competitive Grant funds. Project Directors include the expenses as a part of the professional development budget in their grants.

Professional Development

The professional development activities are best illustrated at http://www.oetc.org/pdc/. The red buttons next to the dates at the top of the page connect to the agendas from each of our meetings. “Resources” under Choose a Topic links you to the cadre’s most frequently used resources.

Technology Infrastructure

Oregon Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre meetings are held in facilities that can provide wireless Internet access. Cadre members bring their own wireless laptops and PDAs. Early in the process, we borrowed sets of wireless laptops to allow each participant “hands-on” access to the professional development.

Outcomes

Cadre members have learned about new and expanded educator and student resources. Cadre members have learned about emerging technologies. Cadre members have shared professional expertise to extend and enhance each other’s skills and knowledge. Cadre members have used new knowledge and skills learned through cadre gatherings to provide professional development for educators in their regions and districts.

Evaluation

The popularity of the Oregon Ed TechProfessional Development Cadre has grown each year. As the word has gotten out about what the cadre is doing and cadre members have taken what they have learned and shared it within their districts or regions, more and more individuals are asking to participate. ODE and OETC are currently developing a plan to expand our capacity to include a larger membership in the cadre and to have “mini-cadres” replicated in different regions of the state. OETC is replicating the Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre in Montana. Some of Oregon’s cadre members are providing resource training to Montana participants. A few of the Montana Ed Tech Professional Development Cadre members will meet with Oregon cadre members at our February 2005 meeting held in conjunction with the OETC Instructional Technology Strategies Conference.

Contact Information

Carla Wade
Carla.wade@state.or.us
503-378-3600, Ext. 2283