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Establishing a Continuous Professional Learning Culture

Mary McVey

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EDU-513: Shaping School Culture

Dr. Steve Bebee

April 14, 2021

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Professional Learning Topics

This past year, our school transferred from Google Classroom to a more structured,

online learning resource called Schoology. This website is not only the school’s central hub for

communication and interaction, but it is also the portal for our online classes, clubs, and various

organizations. It also houses a database that can be used for extensive record keeping, including

attendance and grades. However, after spending some time with our Technology Chair, I have

come to learn that this online resource can also be used for the implementation and tracking of

professional development among the staff. It is my idea that faculty and staff can use this same

platform to access great learning content. People tend to balk at the idea of change, so enforcing

new professional development requirements through a familiar system will help ease the

transition.

Additionally, one of our major concerns over the years is the lack of accountability and

tracking of shared learning hours. They are hardly ever documented and most teachers fabricate

their required 15 hours of professional development that they must complete every academic

year. This system however will be monitored by two members of our staff, one on administration

and one in a supervisory role, who will be responsible for checking logged hours and for

evaluating the chosen learning topics. Specifically, the Technology Chair and the Dean of

Faculty will be equally responsible for creating, uploading, sharing, etc. worthy content for the

faculty to view. However, there will be a discussion forum on our Professional Development

Schoology page, that only faculty/staff have access to, that will allow for suggestions. Any

member of the staff will be able to upload different professional development items that they

found relevant, such as Ted Talks, YouTube videos, articles, and more. It will be up to the Dean

of Faculty and Technology chair to view these suggested items and choose which ones to make
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required shared learning. Only the approved resources can be considered mandatory to complete.

Each semester will also be a different learning topic theme, where teachers must complete

professional development sessions that fit within the targeted premise.

Professional Learning Shared

Through the Schoology system that we are already paying to use, staff will be able to

access the approved shared learning content through three online locations: the course

dashboard, discussion forums, and mastery/badges page. This method for exploring shared

learning is easy to use as navigation is simple, items are clearly labeled, and teachers already

know how to use the basic functions of the website from using it to teach online class this past

year. On the course dashboard, teachers will be able to select the button that will take them to the

homepage of our professional development resources. The course dashboard also provides them

with a snapshot of everything they need to know all at once. This includes hours required, hours

needed, completed sessions, and recommended content. From this main hub, every link is

clickable and leads to an item that will help them in their professional development journey.

Once on the course dashboard, those wishing to learn more can also use the discussion forum to

make suggestions, discuss interesting articles, or ask for help from the Technology Chair and/or

Dean of Faculty. Similar to the online forums used in GCU Master classes, faculty and staff will

have a required number of substantive posts to make each month. Their contribution to the

conversation about a specific subject or video they watched will provide more opportunities for

discussion and learning among the users. Lastly, they will have access to the mastery/badges

page, where their professional development steps are recorded. The mastery tab will provide a

rundown of the topics they have already shown mastery in through required responses and

informal quizzes. It will also preview what the faculty member is showing a need for
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improvement in and what topics have not yet been completed. The badge portion of the online

platform is a merit system that awards badges (similar to trophies or stickers) to teachers that

have reached accomplishments in their training.

Implementation into Professional Practice

The shared information presented through our Shoology platform will be separated into

two categories. The first will be the requirements for their overall professional learning, and the

second will be more specific to their academic subject area. For the overall professional learning

requirements, faculty and staff must all participate in at least 15 hours’ worth of shared learning

within the academic year. They must attend online sessions or conduct research on topics that

have to do with overall professional development and the betterment of the school. Topics could

include social justice, equity in classrooms, first aid, and more. The information they view and

share with their colleagues will help build their resumes and basic knowledge of educational

leadership. The second category that is structured around with teaching subject will be

supervised by their department chair. Teachers will have to complete an additional 6 hours every

academic year of professional development sessions that relate directly to their particular subject.

For example, science teachers can complete their hours by reading academic articles on new

advances in STEM education and/or watching approved videos demonstrating creative classroom

experiments. Using the informational items and shared learning provided on our Schoology

platform, they will have a one-stop source for increasing their knowledge in their own subject

and professional practice.

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Providing Reflective Feedback

The faculty and staff using this program will also have opportunities to provide necessary

feedback on the platform, the technology, and the content itself. Besides being given time at in-

person faculty meetings to make any verbal suggestions or complaints, staff will also be able to

utilize the Schoology website as a source for completing surveys. These surveys will be given

out quarterly and will assess their overall knowledge and enthusiasm for the system in place.

Additionally, the discussion forum will be open for live comments, questions, and concerns.

Faculty and staff will also be given specific timelines at the beginning of each academic

year that will outline their requirements for completing professional development and

instructions for how, when, and where to post shared information. As stated before, all staff will

be required to complete 15 hours of training before the end of the school year in early June, with

teachers needing to complete an additional 6 hours in their academic field. All faculty and staff

will also be required to post in the discussion forum on the last Friday of every month. Their

posts can be substantive questions or comments, or suggestions for shareable content. One a

suggestion or question is posted, the Dean of Faculty and/or the Technology Chair must provide

an answer or approval within one week. The mastery page, where everyone can track their

progress, is updated live, but will be checked for accuracy once a quarter by the same

supervisory people. Badges will be given out once a quarter as well, and will be formally

announced at the end of the year faculty/staff meeting.

Rationale

I firmly believe in the possible effectiveness of my plan as it utilizes a reliable and

familiar technology based platform for tracking and implementation and has systems for checks

and balances in place. Designing this system for shared learning was not done in haste for this
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assignment alone. Instead, it has been an ongoing conceptual project that I have been

collaborating with our Technology Chair about this past year. The research behind this specific

program and timeline will drastically improve our record keeping and overall monitoring of

professional development, and provide our staff with a centralized way to access credible shared

learning content. The amount of staff members that actively participate in professional

development will increase as it has been made easier to access, engagement will go up as faculty

now have the opportunity to share their resources on one online system, and higher performance

achievement will take place as a result of the expected learning happening.

In defense of my proposed plan, I would like to explore the strengths and long academic

history of the technology platform that the entire idea is constructed around. Schoology is a

reliable system that is already familiar to our staff as it is the program we use to conduct our

online classes. One of its many strengths is its ability to centralize communication and provide

forums for discussion and socializing. Our staff tends to ignore emails and would rather not

discuss educational items on their personal social media accounts. However, they could greatly

benefit from having a professional place to discuss ideas and share creative resources. In fact,

“research supports the notion that learning is both an active and a social process,” meaning that

some of the best idea they learn for their development can come from the casual conversations

and posts being made on the discussion forum feature of the website (Gess-Newsome, 2016).

Additionally, this particular online learning management system has received 4-star reviews on

different technology and education websites. One of the glowing reviews of the program refers

specifically to its strength in providing tools for communication, stating that “the underlying

concept of Schoology is professional and academic - with those two characteristics in place
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teachers would be able to share resources, post best practices, and build an online learning

community” (University of Houston, 2021).

This particular plan will also prove to be effective in establishing a stronger culture of

continual learning in my school because it has been created with an in-house system of checks

and balances. While teachers will have the opportunity to share any information they feel is

relevant, the Dean of Faculty and Technology Chair will work together to comb through this

material and highlight those that they feel are actually suited for professional development.

Teachers are given free speech, but administration also has the final control of what becomes

required material and what are simply additional peer-suggested resources. There will also be

surveys and places for user feedback that will continue to improve the system over time.

Department heads and administrators can also easily check the progress of any staff member, as

well as analyze the master levels of their faculty on certain topics. Another benefit that

“Schoology provides is a continual stream of informational updates,” allowing for this system to

be fluid and for shared content to remain on topic and relevant to the changing times (University

of Houston, 2021).
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References

Gess-Newsome, J. (2016). Technology infused professional development: A framework for

development and analysis. Retrieved April 15, 2021, from https://citejournal.org/volume-

3/issue-3-03/general/technology-infused-professional-development-a-framework-for-

development-and-analysis/

University of Houston. (2021). New technologies and 21st century skills. Retrieved April 15,

2021, from http://newtech.coe.uh.edu/tool-name.cfm?

toolid=160&toolname=Schoology