Professional Learning Communities: Bridging the Technology Integration Gap Through Effective Professional Development

ABSTRACT

While technology is prevalent in American classrooms, meaningful technology integration remains an issue, indicating a lack of effective professional development. Unlike the typical workshop model, professional learning communities (PLCs) utilize teacher-centered approaches to professional development. Kolb’s experiential learning theory, Bandura’s self-efficacy theory, and the expectancy-value model work together to provide the theoretical foundation supporting professional development through PLCs. This article proposes a plan for transformative technology integration using a PLC model for professional development.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michelle Toor Paulus

Michelle Toor Paulus is a K–12 teacher who has been involved with the classroom integration of educational technology since the early 1980s. As a doctoral student at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, she is interested in connecting transformative technology tools with content learning. She envisions 21st-century K–12 classrooms in which students work collaboratively across classroom, district, and even continental lines to create meaningful projects demonstrating deep levels of understanding, critical thinking, and creativity.

Sonimar Garcia Villegas

Sonimar Garcia Villegas currently works as Academic Director for the Western Region of K12, Inc. She holds a master’s degree in counseling from Wayland Baptist University, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from University of Texas at San Antonio, and an administrator certificate from Region 20 Service Center in San Antonio. Previously, she worked in a Title 1 elementary school as a lateral-entry bilingual teacher for four years and a school counselor for three years before moving to virtual education. Her experience with her current company includes Family Resource Coordinator, Special Programs Support Specialist, and Principal. Her research interests are K–12 online learning, teacher development in the online learning setting, and technology integration in the traditional K–12 setting.

Jennifer Howze-Owens

Jennifer Howze-Owens is a doctoral student in educational psychology and technology whose research interests include faculty development for effective and engaging online teaching and instructional design. She has worked in K–16 education for over a decade and currently works at a public research university as an academic unit’s analyst.