Technology and teacher education: is technology professional development meeting the needs of English teachers?

The definition of a ?traditional? classroom has undergone a significant change in the last few decades. The classroom of today in the 21st century provides much more technologically advanced tools. With the rapid advancements made in educational technology every year, teachers have had to learn to change and use new tools in their teaching. This study used Change Theory as a lens to interpret the ways that teachers are learning about technology through the technology professional development (TPD) programs available to them through their schools and/or districts. This study focused particularly on the needs of English teachers to determine if their needs are being met with the TPD programs available to them. Six school districts from three different states were included in this study. This research study followed a mixed method model, triangulation, and the constant comparative method to analyze its data. Participants were strictly limited to English teachers. The participants had the opportunity to participate in one or all of the data gathering tools. These tools included an electronic survey, focus groups, and individual interviews. Results of this study showed that as a whole, English teachers are not having their needs met in technology professional development (TPD). Very few of the schools represented in this study provided any TPD beyond the standard training for their online grade book programs. Teachers were very disappointed with the lack of effort or consideration their administrators have towards their technology professional development and felt that much of the time they spend in their regular professional development meeting is wasted. Participants criticized the poor quality of their TPD and that very few good teaching methods are ever employed. Teachers asked to be involved in TPD decisions so that they can learn advanced technology skills. Teachers in this study provided several recommendations for their school and district leaders on how to better provide TPD that would meet their needs as well as benefit teachers in all content areas.