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4. Seek out Web-based professional development. I am finding that Web-based training is very appealing to classroom teachers simply because there is no time in a school day to learn how to use/integrate technology. In many districts today, planning time has been significantly reduced. This leaves teachers with either early morning, after school, weekend, or Web-based training as the only options for technolgoy professional development. Web-based training, if designed effectively and utilized rich multimedia, gives teachers convenient anytime, anwhere training. In fact, I created a Blackboard course about Blackbord that utilizes interactive streaming flash video. If a teacher wants to learn how to create and and suggestions for integrating a wiki in a Blackboard course, they simply watch a streaming video on how to accomplish this. This, then, allows teachers to apply skills and have complete control over their own learning/training pace. I think more teachers need to inquire/push for Web-based technology professional development to their I.T. departments and administrators; not just be provided with hyperlinks to online tutorials that merely show you how to use educational software.

Always run through a technology lesson before presenting it to the class -- and always have a back-up lesson prepared in case the technology fails.

Type directions for frequently used computer operations -- opening programs, inserting clip art, printing documents, and so on -- on index cards, laminate them, and connect them with a circle ring. Keep a set next to each computer.

If you're a language arts or foreign language teacher using Microsoft Word, teach your students how to use the Text to Table feature.