Implementing Project SIED

Abstract

The worldwide explosion in popularity of mobile devices has created a dramatic increase in mobile software (apps) that are quick and easy to find and install, cheap, disposable, and usually single purpose. Hence, teachers need an equally streamlined and simplified decision-making process to help them identify educational apps—an approach that differs from traditional technology decision-making approaches that are cumbersome and require significant time, resources, and effort. Project Software Identification and Evaluation for Decision-Making (SIED) attempts to fill this gap. In this article, we describe Project SIED, how we designed a series of professional development workshops for in-service special education teachers based on Project SIED, and the evaluation outcomes of the workshops. Results suggest that workshops were successful from in-service special education teachers’ self-reported confidence and comfort levels. Limitations and future plans are discussed.