Technology Integration Blog

6/21/2012

This is a quote from the article A Plan for Technology Intergration - "Technology adoption does not happen overnight. There are many things to consider, test out, assess, and learn before large amounts of funds are spent. What struggles have you witnessed with new Technology Intergration?"

17 Comments

Rosie

6/21/2012 08:52:02 am

If teachers are not taught and shown how the technology works, it just sits in the classroom unused. I have also seen where teachers know how to use the technology, but they do not "have time" to cover their content, so the technology does not get used. I have seen this with the software that comes with SmartBoard. There are many fun, dynamic pre-made programs that come with the hardware, but I have not had time to find them or to use most of them. Also, I have only used the clickers twice because my students have different rates of completing the quiz questions. I just found out that there is a way to print the quiz and then the students can answer with their clickers without waiting for their classmates to finish. These are hurdles to overcome.

Nell

6/21/2012 08:57:09 am

I totally agree with the article I just read. It makes since to indentify the needs or goals for your students before purchasing technology that is just going to "sit" in your classroom. I have found in my school that technology is purchased and is never used because, one, they either don't have time to use it, or two, they don't know how to use it. I, personally get frustrated because the Early Childhood Program is never included or thought about when purchasing technology. (I teach Pre-K)

Kristin Vogel

6/21/2012 08:59:55 am

First of all, the lack of training we are given when receiving technology is a major struggle. I have an Airliner in my classroom and have no idea how to use it because it was simply handed to me. I have had an account with donorschoose.org for years, however I have never written a grant to try to receive anything for my classroom. I am not familiar with the process and do not know much about the struggles, however I feel good to know where to begin: with student needs, training needs, and finally equipment needs. I never realized how much more a grant should include than just money for equipment. Sounds like a very involved process!!

Mary Lang link

6/21/2012 09:01:44 am

There are a lot of teachers in my school who the word CHANGE automatically sends them into Fight or flight mode. They want to make arguments for not using it before they even attempt to use it or know anything about it. We have SmartBoards, airliners, NetBooks, and iPads, but some teachers choose not to use any of this technology. There is no one saying anything about them not using it, so they will continue not to use it until they are held accountable.

schweitzer

6/25/2012 06:56:00 am

totally agree.

Kristen

6/21/2012 09:02:56 am

I think this article is spot on! I think that it is a great idea to have the Beta Test Group to try out new technology that a school or district wants to use to meet the needs of their students. Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville are nutorious for wanting to implement a program or something before working out all of the kinks or knowing if it is going to be effective for our students which causes headaches for EVERYONE! Also, by having the Beta Test Group then there are more people avalible to help when problems or concerns arise.

Stacey

6/21/2012 09:04:14 am

Two years ago our school remodeled and a new building was built. With this building came lots of new devices! One of the biggest challenges with this technology was that teachers did not know how to use the devices/software, such as the smartboard. Teachers became overwhelmed and did not use the technology. Also teachers struggled with finding the time to learn how to use and incorporate the software into their curriculum.
Last year we received a cart of I Pads. The biggest struggle I found with this is that they weren't always available when you needed them. My students were using the I Pads for their winter program and we had been working with them for a couple of weeks. I then received an email stating that they were going to let teachers check out the I Pads during a specific time frame and this prevented my students from being able to use the I Pads on the winter program.

Megan

6/21/2012 09:06:22 am

I have witnessed new technology being purchased for the whole school and the teachers were not provided appropriate training before they received the technology. Many of the teachers who received the technology did not use it daily to engage the students. For example, some teachers have used their ActivBoard simply for a white board. They haven't used it for activities to engage the students or allow the students to use the board independently. There are some of the teachers that don't want to change their way of teaching to incorporate the new technology because they aren't comfortable with it. Simply they are unsure of how to provide 21st century learners with engaging lessons to include technology.

Leslie Scherer

6/21/2012 09:07:57 am

This article speaks to problems I have in my current school situation. Every classroom has SmartBoards, clickers, DocCams, etc but little or no training is ever given. Our staff as NEVER been given any training even on SmartExchange. Nothing is ever shared teacher to teacher or by our STC. Something as simple as SmartExchange can't even be tackled.
While I appreciate hardware, I wish more training would be given on web resources and software. We RARELY are given any sort of training on either. The one time I can remember getting any sort of training was with Read, Write, Gold and all 40 teachers were packed into one computer lab with 22 computers. To say the least, I learned zippo!

Schweitzer

6/25/2012 08:46:50 pm

I agree.

Chris Klakamp

6/22/2012 03:09:16 am

I will give my principal credit for providing us with a lot of technology in our classrooms. She is always willing to listen to our opinions on what we think we could use in the classroom. However, like the article mentioned and the people above, the training is not always there. I have been fortunate enough to be sent to district trainings over most of the technology that we have in our classroom. On the other hand, most of the other faculty at our school has not been as fortunate. They tend to come to me when they need help. I will help them the best that I can, but I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. So, I feel that if we are going to be given this technology in our classroom, we should receive ample training on it. There is no need to have the technology in our classroom if people do not know how to use it. There needs to be money set aside for the training on the equipment and not just buy the equipment. Technology is a great asset if you know how to use it.

Ryan Schaeffer

6/22/2012 10:16:40 pm

First, I've noticed that there are still too many teachers that are not willing to try new materials. They get stuck in the same-ol same-ol and never reflect on what would make them a better teacher and students better learners. Second, I have witnessed alot of major purchases for the school that were not informed to the majority. A few teachers will go to our STC and the Principal and buy products for the entire school. The schools will purchase and many people will not be informed of the new product. Set aside the fact that the only people trained are the people who wanted the materials in the beginning. Other than these two major issues, our school has lots of opportunities for technology usage, each teacher has to take it upon themselves to figure everything out.

Schweitzer

6/25/2012 08:53:31 pm

I have always encouraged teachers to come to me with things the want. Two is sometimes better than one when talking to administrators.

La Juan link

6/25/2012 08:28:04 am

My school has a lot of new equipment that is not used for the general population students. Most of the new media is used for ECE students and physically handicapped. My school has a lot of teachers that believe that technology is a problem and won't check email or post attendance on infinite campus. Futhermore the principal and support staff all depends on use of technology for everything.

Scott Ramser

6/25/2012 09:13:00 am

We are in the process of incorporating the use of ipads in my school starting for next year. I am hearing from a lot of older teachers, not used to technology, that they are already frustrated in not knowing how to operate the device. I agree completely that there is a lot of money being spent on new technology and there is not very much instruction taking place in order to catch the teachers up. Therefore, the adoption is not happening very quickly.

Schweitzer

6/25/2012 08:56:24 pm

I am older and I do understand how they feel. I think a beta group should go first. Then they can help others see the light.

Tiffany Brown

6/25/2012 11:03:54 am

I teach at one of the schools in Jefferson County that is located in the east end. Because it takes a lot of seniority to get into this school, most of the teachers are older and rarely check email. We struggle every year with who will "buy in" to the technology that is provided. This was very evident when our PTA chose to purchase SMARTBoards for the school. It might have been an easier transition if we had a BETA Group and then a small group to help these older teachers.

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