Near the end of our second class, we touched a bit on the "tech lead" model, in which one person is often tasked as being a technology subject matter expert, and told to lead efforts to integrate new hardware (iPads, laptops, etc.) and software (apps, games, etc.) into the school's curriculum.
1) What experiences have you had with this model?
2) Do you think it is an effective way to promote technology use in your school, and why?
My school does not even have a tech person in the building anymore but we do have a few in the district you run occasional one-time workshops. Unless you are currently using, or committed to start using, a certain technology application, these workshops are usually pretty useless. This is because it is impossible to remember anything long-term about using something such as a smart board unless you are using the technology on a regular basis. The math dept had a mandated one a few years back on smart boards because two rooms in our dept were getting them. The workshop was interesting but unless you had one in your room that you were going to use all the time, there was no way to apply what we learned. We were encouraged to share the smart boards by switching rooms once in awhile but in reality it is very inconvenient to do that. Although I do know of a few people in our building who use their smart boards effectively on a consistent basis, most of them are not being used which is huge waste of money. I personally never wanted a smart board because they take up space in the middle of your whiteboard and then you cannot use your white board. I remember someone mentioning this in class. I would much rather have an LCD projector that I can use to project my computer screen onto the white board when I need to show something on my computer like we have in Room 222. I am getting one of these in the coming days and plan to use it on a regular basis. In any case, back to answering the question....I find more and more teachers are using technology on their own. Things like blogging, google docs, including websites to view that the students can access through PowerSchool, etc... I think most of these people are just using things that they learned as students themselves in college. I also think sometimes once someone starts doing neat things with technology other people in their department see it and ask to be shown how to do it, etc... I think teachers are just learning to do this stuff from each other (and even from the students!), not from some lame workshop they attended on some random in-service day.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cindy and many of the others here completely. In the school I work in there is no real professional development program that trains teachers to use the smart boards that were installed. We have had a couple of trainings over the years but for the most part people have figured out to use features that are specific to their courses and nothing else. Most of the time when people use the smart boards, they have nothing but problems with them. Personally, I have found that I am best off using it as a large projector and nothing more.
DeleteAs far as having technology support and the implementation of new technology in my school, let me be polite and say that it is abysmal at best. We have three individuals that are employed by my district who are responsible for servicing 4 school buildings, town hall, the police department and the central office building for the Board of Education. Simply stated, their job is impossible. The police department and the town hall are considered higher priority than the schools and if a teacher has any sort of problem they must submit a ticket and wait for one of the three people to show up. It can take many weeks and it is very frustrating. Ten years ago individual teachers were allowed to try to fix the machines and we did have one teacher who was given the specific responsibility and a stipend to do this. However, with the new network model and increased security, the teachers are not allowed make any changes and we are at the mercy of the town tech people. This model is not effective for teachers to utilize technology or to implement any new technology for many reasons. Teachers generally stick to what they know works. They do not always have the luxury of trying new technology because they have a curriculum to adhere to. If they are to implement something new, they need training and support so that they can be confident that their lesson will be successful. Whenever something new comes along, it is usually dumped on us with little training and it is not effective. Most of the veteran teachers just say to not take it too seriously because something else will come along in a couple of years anyways. For an organization such as a school system, it really boils down to money and politics. The leaders want to say that they are saving money and at the same time implementing the latest and greatest of everything. Tax payers do not want taxes to go up but they do want their children to be prepared for the future. The dilemma looking into the future is, how does a large bureaucracy provide 21st century learning experiences on a 20th century budget and infrastructure model? I wish I had an answer.
David Gionfriddo
We have a business teacher at my high school who is our tech guru. She is amazing at what she does but is often exhausted and overwhelmed! She is worked to the bone. She was the person to teach and ensure all staff were comprehending the new computerized PowerTeacher grading system which obviously, took a lot longer than it needed had there been more than one person with this role. This is not an effective model but I am pleased to tell you this year they have asked for volunteers to join a committee to better integrate technology in to the curriculum. I am excited to be a part of this, as I mentioned before. By asking for volunteers, school staff are more positive and willing in their efforts. Like Cindy, I had not had a white board to utilize - until this year. Today was the first time I used one and guess who showed me how? My awesome students?
ReplyDeleteYes, Tricia--the students!! For schools in which they are paying "technology experts" to go to PDs and be up to date on the latest programs, toys, and practices, that's time and money spent for an adult to catch up. We adults are always catching up! The kids, however, are learning every day by using the newest technologies and brainstorming new ways to use them simply by doing what they do naturally...hanging out with each other. It would take some organization and humility on our part, but it sure seems like one of the bestresources is right in front of us: tap into what the kids already know (at least the most technologically savvy of them) and use them to teach us the latest applications of the latest programs.
DeleteOh man, Tricia, those poor people. I have a woman in my building who does the same thing for us. She helps teachers with Powerschool, she answers our silly questions when screens freeze or we can't log onto the system. I've seen her in tears twice already this year, and it's only the third week of school. I truly feel for her. She is most definitely stretched too thin and I think she is feeling quite frustrated.
DeleteAs I wrote in my own post, I couldn't agree with you and Aaron more. It would make so much sense to empower the students to help the teachers. Think of it- what a great environment! Everyone would be working together. Teachers teaching students, teachers teaching students, students teaching teachers, and students teaching students. It sounds amazing! Such teamwork!
-Laura
If you are a teacher in Middletown and you have a major technological problem, you can email the "helpdesk". There is one person who reads all of these emails and will either reply with an email that tells you how to fix it, or he'll come to your school personally to troubleshoot it.
ReplyDeleteTo make things go a little smoother at my middle school, specifically, our chorus teacher gets a stipend for being the in-building "tech guy". He's smart and savvy enough to fix most problems, but he wasn't trained. He's just willing to "mess around" with some things for the completely technologically illiterate. When we started a new gradebook program this year, he took time during our faculty meeting to show us how it worked. He hadn't been trained on it, he was just 1 step past everyone else. In fact, there were a lot of questions from people looking ahead in the program, and he couldn't answer them.
No, I don't think this is an effective way to promote the use of technology in school...one reason being my gradebook program example. But in general, this gives the faculty a sense that we're all kind of "winging it", which makes it seem like being up to date on the use of technology is not that important.
This is also the case at my school, we have a helpdesk that you report problems to. Unfrotumanlly the staff is extrememly small and it can take time for them to get to you.
DeleteI am in Middletown also and feel your pain. It is interesting to think that an elementary school has one "tech guy" for twelve to eighteen classrooms and the middle school has one "tech guy". I don't think the teacher to "tech guy" ratio is quite even. I think what would help the some extra planning time and training for the person that should support technology. Setting a reasonable ratio of how many people this person is expected to support would be helpful too.
DeleteI am going to try to be as respectful as possible in this post, but this is a very touchy subject in my district. We have one tech leader for our entire district. He makes oodles of money and does basically nothing for our schools. I honestly have zero idea as to what his job description entails. What I do know is that if a teacher wants to try something new in his/her classroom, in regards to technology, they must ask permission of this person. Unfortunately, that person's favorite word is "no". For example, last year, after reading about the benefits of using Remind101 with parents and students, I thought it would be extremely beneficial to try. I emailed my tech leader and asked his permission. His response was somewhere along the lines of, "I'm sorry Laura, but if I said yes to every request that I got like this from teachers, I would have no idea what's going on in the classrooms, in regards to technology." And that was that. This year, I didn't even ask. I'm just doing it. In my opinion, if teachers don't "try" these pilot programs, then nothing can progress. It's extremely frustrating. You research, you get excited to try something, and then, "no".
ReplyDeleteThere is also a team of teachers in each school described as The Technology Team. We meet about three times a year to discuss where we'd like to go with technology in the building. However, I don't think any of us have spoken during a single meeting because we're just basically told what to do, in regards to the agenda our district's Tech Leader already has in place. I have a feeling that we were the chosen few to be on this committee purely because the Super said each school had to follow this model, so the principal picked the teachers who know a little bit about technology, (and not necessarily how to teach with it).
I think the best way for this model to work is to do exactly what others have already mentioned. TALK TO THE KIDS! They are brilliant with technology! They know more than any of us. I have one student this year who has eleven, yes eleven, computers that he has built himself and put into working orders. He is thirteen years old! They know how to write scripts and java, etc. As we discussed last week in class, if we worked from a bottom-up procedure, rather than a top-down procedure, I think we'd be much more successful and effective, AND we'd be really empowering the students.
I am shocked that you have to ask PERMISSION to do things with technology! I have to say that in my school we are encouraged to try new things and technology use is especially encouraged. Our principal just started a "tech committee" last year which I am on. We have only met a few times but basically he wants to know what teachers need to better use technology in their classrooms. We DO have a guy who runs workshops on different topics that people can attend which can be helpful if you can find the time to go. There is one this week on Google Docs actually that I might go to. We are also given hyperlinks to directions on how to do certain things through school emails. And, like some others said, certain people in the building are designated as "go to" people if you need help with Power School. For computer problems, we email ITHELP, but they are over at the other high school now and so if they need to actually look at or work on your computer you have to drive over to the other high school!
DeleteCurrently I just have my computer in the class. We have 4 computer lab rooms, but getting lab time can be quite competitive. Often more computers in the lab do not work then do, and many web sites are blocked which proves to be very frustrating for the students. It is very hard to plan a lesson not knowing what you will get when you get to the lab. For a professional Development day this year, they brought in a guest lecture that taught us about using technology in our school. The staffs from both high schools in town attended. During the afternoon we were asked to go try out some of the websites, and things he had spoke about. It was not a wonderful experience, most of the website were blocked, and there were not enough working computers in the building for staff. In October we will be starting a school wide renovation. The renovations will take several years, but when it is complete we are supposed to receive technology updates in our classes as well as in the labs. At my school we have two teachers that have fully embraced technology in their classrooms. They have A.P. classes and were part of a pilot project that allowed their student to receive I pads to use. They are enthusiast about technology in the classroom and happy to answer question. They have had a few workshops. They will be a good resource in the future. But I think the school needs to focus on having working technology. . I think the current approach to technology needs to be revamped.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a few labs in the building that you have to compete with 100 other teachers for. Ridiculous. We have a cart of laptops you can bring to your room but they never work. This year we got a classroom set of Chrome Books to use for the Agile Minds Algebra 1 class so maybe that will work out better.
DeleteAnd what do you do with that ONE computer in your classroom and 20 kids? Nothing right? Everyone in our building has a desktop in their room also so that Wallingford can say, "We have a computer in every classroom!" Just like many schools are now saying, "We have a smartboard in every classroom!" It sounds good politically. Whether or not these computers and smartboards are actually being used to enhance instruction is another thing....Teachers don't even use the classroom desktops for themselves because we were all given laptops to use several years ago. I am curious if any of you are given laptops where you teach....
In my district, we have one teacher per building that receives a stipend to be an “Education Technology Specialist”, or ETS. The ETS receives direction from the ”Director of Technology”. I have seen this top down organization have varying levels of effectiveness. I believe the Director of Technology has a huge impact on how technology is supported in the classroom. We had a Director that I regularly saw in our building. He would collaborate with principals and staff and organize workshops to train teachers in the use of new technologies. He would recruit tech savvy teachers to lead these workshops, not just the building ETS. If he saw teachers that used technology, he would do what he could to get technology into his or her classroom. Unfortunately since he left, we have not had a Director of Technology that has been able to give the same level of support and enthusiasm. The ETS also plays an important role and has a huge impact on how the top down approach works. At my first school the teacher that had the stipend saw it as her job to police use of the computer lab. She was not very tech savvy and was not very supportive. Once she actually walked into the teacher’s lounge and proceeded to yell at me for not logging out properly on a computer. I also worked with several ETS that were very supportive. They were active in getting others to use technology and would recruit teachers to show other teachers technology they were using in their classroom. More recently, with lesson plan and data team requirements, it has been more difficult for the ETS to find time to promote and support the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience, the tech lead model can be successful, if it recognizes and utilizes the abilities of all teachers and is supportive of all teachers. The problem I see is a lack of resources and time.
Whe I arrived at Our LAdy of Mount Carmel school 16 years ago, we had 10 or so old desk tops with 31/2 and 5 1/4 inch floppy disks. My only real knowledge of technology was the apple that I had used in college, and with my son. I loved and appreciated the activities that were available for my kids, so I took it upon myself to upgrade the technology at our school. There were no tech specialists, there was just the ever changing and ever growing internet. So I learned and taught myself everything I could about the tech trends, and convinced my admin that technology was the way we needed to to go, and what would separate and define our school. We got a grant for a new tech lab, and began integrating the technology into the curriculum.
ReplyDeleteAt first I was the tech teacher, and the classes would come to me. This is a good model, except as some have pointed out, the time you lose traveling to a lab is precious, and then very little gets done in a lab. Then, once you get to a lab, if you have internet or hardware issues, your day is defeated. I liked it because I knew each class was getting educated in technology, and their classes were building on each other year after year. What was difficult was trying to integrate a teacher's project. The ultimate goal of a tech teacher should be to integrate curriculum with other teachers, yet we all know how much time there is in a year.
Next, as the archdiocese recommended that we integrate technology directly into the curriculum, i became the tech integration specialist. I would wot with the teacher's to help them integrate their lessons while they took their classes to the lab. That became a hassle for some teachers because they were not as well versed in the technology, couldn't trouble shoot the IT issues, and then kids weren't going to the lab at all. This was very frustrating to me, because in order for the students to be fluent in the middle school, there were skills I was expecting to be built upon. I could also understand, however, because not only do the teacher's have to know how to use the software, but they also have to be able to manipulate through any problems. And with a class full of students, we all know how frustrating that can be. As many PD's as we tried to have, there just never is enough time to teach EVERYTHING you have to know.
Now, since the trend has changed, and we have iPads in our classroom, it is a very different story. Teacher's are definite more receptive to the iPAd because it is convenient, and less intimidating. They have seen how engaged their students have become observing lessons I have conducted with their students. They are more eager to learn, but not from me, which is awesome. I have begun to ask other teachers who are using the ipads in the classroom to take the lead and instruct others, which is why it is IMPORTANT to observe peers! The problem still remains that the technology is moving faster that anyone can keep up with, and if a tech integration specialist is feeling overwhelmed, well we all know how we feel. The amazing thing is that the STUDENTS don't feel overwhelmed, and are WAITING for us to ask them to teach us. We need to take that lead.
ALl of the suggestions to get student more involved is a great one! I am going to suggest we add a student to our tech committee!
ReplyDeleteTricia
Agree! My 5th grader came home the other day saying he taught his teacher and his class how to use GarageBand in their computer class. He was so proud of himself!! Kids like to feel useful! :)
DeleteIn my district (Middletown) as Aaron stated, we have to write an email to HELPDESK and our email gets sent on to... I don't even know. Today, I received a visit from our tech guy, who said he received the HELPDESK and said that he can't do anything about my new, but not hooked up, projector in my classroom because he doesn't have the video cables for it yet. And then, I got in trouble for bringing in my own modem.... the modem that I purchased and set up without anyone's help because if I didn't, I would have ZERO Internet in my two room for my computer. I also purchased and set up a wireless printer for myself because of the same reasons. In 2013, I believe it is a basic, simple thing to ask that I get Internet and a printer.
ReplyDeleteSo, to answer the question, we do have a tech person in charge of all of the technology in our schools, however, they are overworked with the amount of classrooms they are assigned to and because no one trains the teachers to problem solve simple issues themselves (i.e. hooking up a projector), there is always a wait list a mile long before any progress is made. This also makes it virtually impossible for any progress to be made in the ways of integrating cellphones and iPads into the classroom. Today, students in our school are not allowed to use cell phones at all in school and must leave them in their lockers. We are teaching our children that technology is something that happens when they don’t learn. It’s really unfortunate.
The IT department at my school leaves much to be desired. Currently, the IT department consists of three hard working individuals, not just servicing the high school, but the entire school district including the police department, town hall, and Board of Education. Given the increasing use of technology in the school district, the demand for technology maintenance is great. The IT department in my school district as you can imagine is stretched to the limit. The void must be filled. Administrators designate certain teachers, not for their qualifications, certifications, or expertise in IT, but because they are just a bit more knowledgeable than the rest of us with regards to certain applications. For example, when the school district began to purchase Smart Boards, few teachers knew how to use them. So Mr. H., an English teacher at the high school was instructed to give a one hour in-service to the staff on the use of Smart Boards. He was soon labeled as the “expert” on the use of Smart Boards and was the “go to” person with any future questions. I really appreciate Mr. H’s help, but I believe more training is necessary for ameteaur teachers in this area to fully utilize this wonderful technology and other technology as well.
ReplyDeleteSo to answer the burning question, no, I do not think this is an effective way to promote technology use in my school. Technology is an important part of educating our students in this day in age, so IT support and training should be the backbone in this educational process. Proper training and education from a certified expert is required in all most all fields in today’s society (doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc.) in order to promote learning, so why should this area be any different? Dave, you made a comment in your blog “Taxpayers do not want taxes to go up, but they do want their children to be prepared for the future.” This is absolutely true, we need the money to establish a proper 21st Century educational program. No doubt, this will be a bit pricey, but is the investment worth it? I think so.
Tricia and Laura made comments in their blog with regards to students having more knowledge in technology than teachers and that they are actually showing the teachers how to use certain applications. I too have witnessed this in my school. While I know that this is a generational thing, to me, this is unacceptable. We are supposed to be the educators and and we are the ones who are supposed to be teaching our students, not the other way around. We not only need to keep pace with the latest technology, but we need to be in the forefront. In order to do this, we need on-going training from qualified instructors, but I know this is easier said than done. “Practice is the hardest part of learning, and training is the essence of transformation.” (Ann Voskamp)
Kevin Pelczar