Professional Development for 21st century Skills- technology

• The Partnership for 21st Century Skills published an e-paper outlining basic strategies and benchmarks for professional development . This paper refers to P16 educators, and often indicates a focus on teacher training. However, the basics are useful.

• From Digital Learning Environments : ideas on grant seeking and professional development planning
  



• Professional Development offered in Missouri by eMINTS (the instructional model focuses on connecting inquiry, community, high quality lesson design, technology and evaluation)




• Alan McCord offers the followng consideration: While formal training can improve faculty attitudes toward technology, it is most effective in practical terms when comprehensively delivered and accompanied by incentives (Gilmore 1998). For this reason an understanding of what motivates faculty to use online instruction as well as what inhibits such use should inform a training protocol. Maguire (2005) identifies three forms of motivation that influence faculty in their decisions regarding the use of online teaching resources:
  - Intrinsic motivators involve personal attitudes affecting technology adoption.
  - Extrinsic motivators incorporate incentives such as promotion, tenure, and opportunities for collaboration with other faculty.
  - Institutional motivators appeal to potential users by means of the support, compensation, release time, and recognition made available by the university.
  While Maguire (Maguire, L. 2005. Literature review—Faculty participation in online distance education: Barriers and motivators. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration 8) argues that positive extrinsic and institutional motivators may outweigh negative intrinsic motivators, she also notes that developers of online programs should understand that faculty may experience extrinsic and institutional motivation as a type of peer pressure. If reluctant faculty members feel compelled to incorporate technology, they might experience less satisfaction with their instructional experience and higher rates of burnout (Beam and Kim 2002). Special care should be taken to provide additional support to faculty who participate in online teaching because of a perceived pressure to participate(This article was originally published in Innovate (http://www.innovateonline.info/) as McCord, A. 2006. Staffing and supporting a new online initiative. Innovate 3 (2). http://www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=406 (accessed October 13, 2008).



• 21st Century Connections has reconceptualized (in an exciting way!) what the role of the 21st century educator is, namely, a visonary, a leader, an adaptor, a learner, and a risk taker.

Growth in NEO from 2005-2006

The report that I have linked below is useful for thinking about the importance of technology in colleges that prepare graduates for the Northeast Ohio workforce. We are well situated in terms of our healthcare offerings, management offerings and educational services. However, because technology is forecasted to be the backbone of our future economy, technological training in institutions serving Northeast Ohio residents - the people who do not intend to leave the region upon graduation - needs to be a major concern.

The Northeast Ohio Economic Brief from 2007 has some important findings:

• Between 2005 and 2006, nine sectors in NEO accelerated their job growth compared to the previous year. Important sectors that moved from a negative to a positive growth rate within this time period include Educational Services, Information, and Management of Companies and Enterprises.
• The three sectors that added the highest number of jobs were Health Care and Social Assistance (9,200 jobs), Administrative and Support Services (8,500), and Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (4,900).
• The fastest growing sectors in NEO with at least $4 billion in gross product were Transportation and Warehousing (16%), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (10%), and Information (8%)
• Employment in NEO grew faster than the state but slower than the U.S. in the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services sector, an important sector in a region seeking to transition to a technology based economy.

From the Northeast Ohio Information Technology Workforce Report, 2007, commissioned by Nortech

• The Information Technology (IT) Workforce is Sizable
  There are an estimated 96,000 IT professionals employed in Northeast Ohio.

• Most IT departments are small. Only 21% of companies had IT departments with 10 or more employees.

• The most common IT professionals are: Business Application Specialists (31% of IT
  workforce), Programmers (13% of IT workforce), Network Specialists (7% of workforce), and Information Systems Analysts (5% of workforce).

• The system of higher education is not producing enough graduates to keep pace with
  employer demand for professional workers.

• Overall investment in training and development of IT workers is low in Northeast Ohio. One-third of all companies dedicate no portion of their IT budget for worker training while one-half allocate anywhere from 1-2% for staff training. World class levels of investment are assumed at 3% or more.

• About one in four employers are interested in joining forces with other employers to provide feedback to area colleges on important skill sets for IT graduates.

• Enrollment is lower than it was 5-6 years ago (i.e., 674 students enrolled in 2000/01 compared to only 230 students in 2006/
  07) but production of graduates is similar to what it was in 2000/01 (i.e., 46 graduates in 2000/01, 46 in 2005/06, and 44 in 2006/07). Fewer students are enrolling in technical support programs but community colleges are doing a better job of graduating those who are enrolled.

• Employer demand for technical support professionals is far greater than what Northeast Ohio’s system of higher education is producing. At the time the employer survey was conducted there were 74 job openings for technical support representatives (outside) and 668 openings for help desk personnel.