TechForward Educator Cohort Helps Rockwood Teachers Develop Tech Tools, Skills for Classrooms

The fourth-graders in Kaylee Schriever’s classroom at Wild Horse Elementary always look forward to the day after she attends one of her TechForward Leadership Cohort sessions.

They know it means that, soon enough, they will get to try out some of the fun, innovative technological tools and tricks she learned with her fellow Rockwood School District educators in the cohort.

“Every time we meet, I’m pulling something that I’m eager to share with my students,” she said. “They’re always eager to learn what they’re going to get to do this time because they know we can do something fun afterwards. I’m interested to learn whatever I can and bring it back to my students.”

Schriever is one of 18 Rockwood educators, spanning all the way from elementary through high school, who are part of this year’s inaugural TechForward Leadership Cohort. The program was started and is led by the district’s seven instructional technology specialists: Chris Barrett, Kristine Cagwin, Ellen Downs, Becky Eaton, Alison Hancock, Amanda Lindemann and Dana Stiebel.

Cagwin said the idea to start the cohort came from the sense that the need for educators to be familiar with the effective use of technology in their classrooms is only growing.

“We have so many amazing teachers within our buildings who are doing incredible things with technology, and their desire to have more of that knowledge is so full,” Cagwin said. “We thought this was something we could help foster and give teachers the opportunity to learn new things and become TechForward teacher leaders in their buildings.”

This year’s cohort is participating in four, full-day sessions centered on different aspects of instructional technology. The first session covered visual creativity using tools such as Canva and Adobe Express, and the second session revolved around the responsible use of artificial intelligence in the classroom.

“Educators in this cohort are not only learning technology skills but also instructional strategies that bring these skills to life in the classroom,” Hancock said. “We want these educators to feel empowered to be creative, try new strategies and skills and share their learning with their colleagues.”

The third session, held Jan. 13, delved into audio and video projects using podcast and WeVideo platforms. Educators split up into groups or two or three to work on their own sample podcasts and learned about how popular YouTube video genres such as “unboxings” could be applied in their classrooms.

“One of my favorite parts of being involved in the cohort has been the opportunity to collaborate with other teachers and learn from each other,” said Blevins Elementary first-grade teacher Madison Borroff. “I really enjoyed having the space specifically designated to sharing ideas, being creative and collaborating on how to use technology in meaningful ways. Being a part of this cohort pushed me to try new tools, rethink lessons to be more hands-on and interactive and feel more confident integrating creative technology into my classroom.”

The instructional technology team plans to continue to offer this cohort opportunity to Rockwood educators in the coming years. As technology evolves, so too does the need for teachers to be up on the latest trends and how they can be applied for their students.

“Some of my favorite things are when our teachers come back from polling other teachers in their grade level or curricular area and show them something new,” Cagwin said. “It’s been a really cool group. This first set of teachers is going to have a lot to share with their buildings, and we’re excited to continue to do this year after year and continue to build these amazing teacher tech leaders.”

Schriever and one of her colleagues in the cohort – Wild Horse third-grade teacher Samantha McReynolds – had the opportunity to share some of what they had learned about elementary-level learning management platform Seesaw with their fellow staff members during the districtwide professional development day Jan. 16.

A technology enthusiast who earned her master’s in instructional technology over the summer, Schriever said she is greatly enjoying the opportunity to dive deeper on tools she already uses, as well as discovering and exploring new concepts.

“I’ve learned that there are a whole lot of other things I can be doing,” Schriever said. “I have learned a lot of different programs I wouldn’t have even thought to use, didn’t know were out there that I can now share with my students and teammates or other people in my school and help them use it, too.”