OTAN News

Google and Digital Promise Reimagine Teacher Tech Training with New National Program

In July 2017, Google, in concert with Digital Promise and EdTechTeam, announced the start of the Dynamic Learning Project  (DLP), a national program to help educators in low-income communities build advanced classroom technology skills.

Google is giving Digital Promise a $6.5 million-dollar grant to research and implement a professional development model that uses coaches to help teachers optimize the use of technological resources in classrooms. Digital Promise will monitor and evaluate the project’s implementation and execution, while the EdTechTeam, a global network of education technologists (many of whom are former educators), will lead the coaching program through ongoing mentorship and professional development.

The year-long DLP pilot will begin this fall in 50 schools in five states: Alabama, California, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. According to a blog post  by Liz Anderson, head of social impact programs at Google for Education, the coaches are expected to personalize learning for teachers by helping them optimize the technology already available in the classroom.

Unlike Google’s educator certification program, these coaches do not solely focus on training teachers to use Google products. Instead, they hope to help teachers discover new ways to work with the software and hardware of their preference.

Read more about this exciting initiative on EdSurge.

Source: EdSurge article  By Jenny Abamu, July 28, 2017