Professional Development

Dell Introduces Technology Training Program for Teachers

• By Michael Hart
• 07/06/15

A new program designed to help educators with the latest classroom technologies will offer a professional learning certificate.

Dell has introduced its new Dell Teaching and Learning Academy to help school districts and their teachers transition to an environment in which technology fosters a collaborative and creative learning environment. At the same time, it introduced a catalogue of virtual professional learning courses that will cover everything from a basic introduction to Windows or Chrome and next-generation assessments to game-based learning and personalized and blended curriculum development.

Dell will customize its Teaching and Learning Academy depending on the particular needs of individual districts. Typically, Dell consultants will work with up to 20 educators to integrate best practices into their instruction, curriculum and assessments. Participants will be able to choose focus areas of either inquiry-based learning or facilitating learning in a student-centered classroom.

During seven day-long sessions over four to six months, interspersed with virtual support, participants will move through whole-group training, collaborative teaching and small-group reflection in absorbing new instructional practices into their classrooms. The programs, according to Dell, will be device- and platform-agnostic, meaning districts will not necessarily have to be current Dell customers or use Dell technology in the program.

Certificates will be granted to participants upon completion of the courses demonstrating their mastery of concrete skills that support transformative learning models.

Crowley Independent School District in Crowley, TX, is among the districts that have already signed on.

"It's not enough to simply give the students the technology that we know they will need," said Crowley School District Technology Director Jerry Allen. "Teachers have to know how to teach in an environment that is technology-rich in order to facilitate appropriate use."