Training and Professional Development

SBTC's core goal is to provide reliable, consistent technology to its members by means of ongoing, proactive support. We have found that while the work of support never goes away, with the consistently stable environment our members enjoy and increasing reliance on technology, many clients begin to ask "what next?"

To us, that's a true measure of success. As such, we're thrilled to offer professional development from within SBTC, and through a network of training and professional development providers we've had good experiences working with in the past.

We firmly believe that Training and Professional Development should be Affordable, Engaging, and Ongoing, to provide real results for staff members seeking to better understand technology at the outset, as well as hone skills after long experience.

Some of our commonly requested training subjects include:

• Google Apps Usage
• iPad Usage & Management
• Advanced PowerSchool Functionality
• Website Administration and/or Teacher Websites (often combined with a website project, though not required)

Affordable

SBTC's training is offered at $83 per hour for members to individual schools on site and $102 per hour for non-members. We offer training in blocks of half days (3 hours) and full days (six hours). The size of the audience is very much up to the client, but we're very happy to present to the entire staff or work with small teams or individuals.

We also offer workshops on topics of popular interest at SBTC's offices in the Archdiocese, as well as online learning opportunities including instructor-lead live webinars. These will vary in per-participant pricing.

We are registered as a Title II provider for PD with Chicago Public Schools. We are very happy to work with you to provide CPDU or other Professional Development and Ongoing Education certification requirements. SBTC is glad to acquire recognition with any other provider, though we have found that CPS registration is entirely sufficient in all past cases.

Engaging

The delivery of information is important. But as every classroom teacher and every speaker from the pulpit is well aware, without engagement, the audience and the message are easily lost. Our trainers provide a mix of deep expertise, humor, and concrete application to the instruction they provide. While we can only hope to make training and professional development an opportunity to look forward to, we take conscious steps to ensure it isn't the tedious chore many adult-instructional sessions turn into.

Ongoing

SBTC has the wonderful opportunity to work in schools and churches throughout the Archdiocese of Chicago. One of the many things we have gained from being involved with this community is an understanding that knowledge is not gained instantly, nor mastery achieved in an afternoon.

Whether teaching lessons to a group of second graders, or lessons to a faith community, it is important to provide learners with the opportunity to experience information multiple times, to explore the breadth and depth of teaching, and to come to master that knowledge over time.

In concert with our belief that our training and professional development opportunities should be affordable, we also believe that they should be ongoing. Our goal is not to impart all knowledge of a subject in a single session, as no learner will be able to master that so swiftly. Instead, multiple, shorter sessions over the course of weeks or months give much more approachable amounts of information, to be internalized and applied in daily work. This leads to much more authentic learning, and far better questions and inquiries in future training sessions.

As an example, we often suggest three to six half-day sessions for Google Apps, spread over the course of a few months.