Changes in professional development needs of faculty members according to stages of technology use and field differences

Abstract

In this study, faculty members' professional development needs were observed by the faculty members and PhD students of Computer Education And Instructional Technology Department within the scope of "Technology Mentoring Program" during the Spring Semester of 2011 - 2012 Academic Year. The professional development needs of Faculty Members who joined "Technology Mentoring Program" were discussed with reference to field differences. The fields of faculty members who joined the program were Foreign Language Education, Special Education, Primary Education and Fine Arts Education. Technology Mentoring Program progressed for an hour a week throughout eleven weeks applying one to one mentoring model. The aim of this study is to describe the changes in professional development needs of faculty members according to the stages of technology use and their own professional fields. At the beginning of Technology Mentoring Program, some faculty members' professional development needs changed because of their different professional fields. As their stages of technology use processed in a different way, the faculty members had different experiences, which resulted in changes in the needs of faculty members. When some of them were at mastery stage, some others moved from mastery stage to impact stage. In this study, there exist some suggestions for the future technology mentoring programs about how the process could be affected by different fields of faculty members.