To help staff stay up to date with educational technology trends, use these strategies to foster growth and learning. Offer regular, targeted training sessions Organize workshops that focus on the latest technology tools and platforms relevant to education, ensuring practical, hands-on experience. Provide access to flexible online learning Allow staff to explore webinars, tutorials, and courses at their own pace, giving them the freedom to learn in a way that suits their schedule. Promote a culture of continuous learning Create incentives such as certifications or recognition for staff who actively engage in upskilling and adopting new technologies.

It’s easy for educators to feel left behind. Here’s how to overcome it in 3 directions: 1️⃣ Affective (How They Feel): Put your staff in learners' shoes. By experiencing any tech as students, they’ll understand how it impacts learning and build the confidence to embrace it! Make them feel empowered, not overwhelmed. 2️⃣ Cognitive (How They Understand): Clear and concise resources are the key! Provide comprehensive docs and quick cheat sheets. Whether they want an in-depth tutorial or a simple reference guide, ensure they have what they need. 3️⃣ Psycho-Motor (How They Do It): Learning by doing! Offer a step-by-step onboarding (e.g. with Whatfix or WalkMe), or make hands-on tutorials with Arcade. Let them practice at their own pace.

First, identify why you feel the staff isn't adopting more up-to-date tech. Does your school foster a culture of technology and ed tech? Observe, survey, and converse to find out what the barriers to adoption and success are. Most often it's time for planning and collaboration/training with peers that is missing. Create opportunities for hands-on experience with the technologies that you want your faculty to adopt through in-school workshops. Allow them time to not only plan but also to reflect and refine together after the fact. Maybe those meeting really can be an emails, and teachers can be given the gift of collaborative learning, playing, and planning time.

To bring staff up to date on educational technology trends, we can subscribe to leading journals and groups that focus on digital mediation. Additionally, encouraging participation in conferences as both attendees and presenters will expose them to the latest developments and foster innovation. It’s also essential to promote research, development, and innovation within the organization, integrating educational technology into daily practices. This will help create a strong foundation where talent is enhanced through technology, ultimately benefiting the entire institutional community.