Promethean+Training

The Promethean training we received from the district was mostly, the typical old-fashion training session. The training consisted of an eight hour day with as many people in a session as possible. We did each have a laptop to work on, but some of them didn’t have the correct version of the software, or couldn’t connect to the internet. We gained experience using some of the features of the software, but not in the context of our subject area.

The time between the training and the opportunity to use the software for classroom application was too great. Some of the teachers were already fairly proficient in the software, and so were bored and felt their time was being wasted. I think that teachers’ time and district resources would have been better served if participants had been divided into smaller groups based on skill level or subject area. A skill based grouping would have allowed teachers with more experience to develop their skills further and expand their expertise. Alternatively, a subject area grouping would allow teachers of varying levels to work together to develop content directed presentations and activities that could be utilized in classrooms immediately. Having the result of the training be a functional addition to the classroom would help illustrate to reluctant teachers how much of an asset technology can be in their classrooms.