All full-time personnel who maintain a Professional teaching certificate need to obtain and maintain technology proficiency. Building principals, assistant principals, and non-certified personnel are exempt. Administrative assistants at the building level are not exempt.

Educators should obtain their technology proficiency within one (1) year of receiving their Professional teaching certificate.

Educators obtain initial technology by completing 30 hours of qualifying professional development which may include workshops, in-services, conferences, courses, etc. that focus on technology integration in classroom instruction. Currently, four courses are approved and meet the requirements set forth by Greenville County Schools. These courses are offered each spring, summer, and fall for educators who are also interested in earning graduate level credit while obtaining initial technology proficiency. Please visit the Classes for Initial Technology Proficiency document to learn more about each course. You may select any one of these four classes to meet the requirements for initial technology proficiency or you may choose your own combination of 30 hours of qualifying professional development.

Certain advanced degree programs and college courses have been approved to fulfill the requirements for technology proficiency. Program descriptions and syllabi need to be submitted to techprof@greenville.k12.sc.us for review and approval.

Beginning in Fall 2021, GCS educators will also have access to a variety of online learning options for obtaining or renewing their technology proficiency through Kyte Learning. Please see your school instructional coach for more information about this option.

Beginning Fall 2021, educators new to Greenville County Schools may transfer their initial technology proficiency status to GCS with valid documentation from a previous district or state. Please note that the documentation must indicate the proficiency was obtained within five years of the educator’s start date in GCS in order to receive approval. For example, if an educator transfers to GCS on August 1, 2022, he or she would need to provide documentation that he or she earned initial technology proficiency in a previous district or state between August 1, 2017 and July 31, 2022. Educators who do not transfer initial technology proficiency will have two years from their GCS start date to earn initial technology proficiency.

Once educators have received initial technology proficiency, they need fifteen (15) hours of technology training every five years to renew their proficiency status. For example, if an educator receives initial technology proficiency on July 31 2022, he or she will need 15 hours between August 1, 2022 and July 31, 2027 to renew proficiency, an additional 15 hours between August 1, 2027 and July 31, 2032, and so forth. Please note that we make every effort to align your technology proficiency renewal dates with your Professional teaching certificate renewal dates to avoid confusion.

Yes.

Technology training includes workshops, in-services, courses, conferences, etc. that focus on technology integration in classroom instruction. Training on interactive whiteboards, coding and robotics in the classroom, iPad apps, and Google Workspace for Education tools, etc. would all be examples of eligible technology training. Courses that simply require the use of technology in order to complete the requirements of the course do not qualify. For example, a Read to Succeed course which requires the use of a blog, email, and discussion boards does not qualify because the topic of the course is not technology integration.

Technology training is offered yearly throughout the district and in individual schools. Hours can also be earned by attending state and national conferences.

You may receive a letter from the South Carolina Department of Education stating your non-compliance with State Proviso 1A.20, and your principal will receive a notice from Instructional Technology stating your non-compliance with State Proviso 1A.20.

A one-year extension may be granted, but you will still be in non-compliance with Proviso 1A.20. Requests for extensions should be made to Instructional Technology prior to the expiration date of the technology proficiency.

Yes, you can still renew your teaching certificate because technology proficiency is not tied to teacher certification.

You can maintain accurate records of your technology training hours on the Professional Development Portal under the “My PD” tab.

You can submit your request for initial technology proficiency or technology proficiency renewal by using our Technology Proficiency Submission Form.

Requests for initial technology proficiency should be submitted as soon as you receive confirmation of successful course completion or have earned 30 hours of professional development as noted on your PD record. Requests for technology proficiency renewals should be submitted the semester that your technology proficiency expires. For example, if your technology proficiency expires in June 2023, you can submit your request January - June 2023.

You did get credit, but your renewal credits for these classes are submitted to the SDE, not the district Professional Development tool. We do use the PD tool to register for these classes; however, you will not see any points associated with it under My PD. You can verify that your 60 SDE renewal credits for the class have been posted to your certificate by going to www.ed.sc.gov. Navigate to the Educators tab and select Certification. Click “View Certification Status” and follow the steps to pull up your certificate. Look under “Renewal Credits.”

Yes.