Technology Tribulations

Technology at my school seems to be hit or miss at best.  We have a couple of teachers who are very tech savvy.  These few are the ones who are called on when things go wrong or someone needs an idea of a way to approach something.  Often these teachers are contacted about technology issues before the media specialist is contacted.  Most teachers are able to complete regular day to day task, however, when an issue arises, these same teachers are the first to send in a tech request for help.  Many of our older teachers have now retired.  These oldies, but goodies were the last of the teachers lacking the desire to venture into the technology age. 

Based on information I’ve gathered from other media centers, our school is lacking in technology.  Each classroom has four desktops, one full size iPad, and two iPad minis.  Each teacher has also been issued a laptop.  We no longer have classroom color printers; we instead have grade level printers (black ink only).  This year we did get a copier that is linked to our network allowing us to send items to be printed from our computers to the copier.  However, this too is black ink only.  When we want to print in color, we must ask to use the secretary’s or bookkeeper’s computers and printers.  Our media center has eight desktops and we also have a computer lab with 30 desktops.  Our media specialist has stated she would like to add more technology to our media center, however, funding has been an issue.  In talking with our media specialist, I’ve heard her say countless times that she really doesn’t even have enough money in the budget to cover print materials.  Funding is an issue everyone is facing, but it seems to be especially hard on small schools with low socioeconomic levels.

Sadly, technology training has been almost non-existent at our school – at the school level and the district level.  This is the first year in many I’ve seen the opportunity for technology training.  The technology department has offered a few technology classes covering the span of several weeks at the beginning of the school year.  These classes were geared more towards the lower grades.  We requested more classes be offered later as things are so hectic at the beginning of the school year.  Another offering will be presented after the first of the year – again geared toward elementary grades.  In the e-mail offering the classes, the technology department asked if there were any requests for training from the middle/high school level.  Since I teach at the elementary level I have been pleased with the training opportunities offered thus far. I plan to go to as many of the trainings as will allow with my teaching and SLM certification classes.  Once I attend the trainings I’ll know more about the quality of the material presented and the method of presenting.  Several years ago we had many more opportunities for staff development and training.  It seems that budget cuts took a toll all the way around.  This November, I am going to have the opportunity to attend the three day Georgia Educational Technology Conference which I am extremely excited about.

In the past when we have had training I found it to be very unproductive.  Training was usually presented as staff development where all teachers were required to attend.  The problem with this is that different teachers have different levels of ability.  Because of this, the training provided was either above or below the level needed.  In addition, since it was presented as required training the teachers who were not interested in the training didn’t focus and caused a distraction with their idle chatter.

Training is necessary, but I feel it could be done better.  Several years ago, teachers were asked to submit suggestions for ideas for staff development.  While it was nice to have the opportunity to offer suggestions, the training sessions were still required and the same issues arose – people not interested would cause a distraction and those interested in learning would have difficulty hearing because of the talking.  I personally prefer the way the technology department has done this year in offering the training and allowing teachers to sign up for training that interest them.  If a variety of training options are available and teachers have the opportunity to sign up for training that interests them then their focus would be greater.  To improve on this thought process I would suggest trying to offer different levels of training so that what is being taught is relevant to the attendees.  Perhaps have several days of training and begin with the basics and build.  People who are unfamiliar can begin with the basic training and progress on as far as they want and the more advanced users can begin the training later as the sessions become more detailed and specialized.  While I could be wrong, in my mind this process seems to have potential.  In addition, as difficult as it would be, I feel expectations should be set at the beginning of the training and those who cause a distraction would be discretely asked to leave.

Our current media specialist has some technological knowledge, but she admits she too has much to learn.  However, she doesn’t have an extensive amount of training.  When I talked with her before beginning the SLM program she didn’t recommend that I add the IT certification giving the explanation that technology changes quickly and that the district would send me to any training they thought I would need in order to do the job.  However, she is the only one I’ve spoken to who has discouraged me from adding the IT certification as well.  She doesn’t conduct in-service training.  Her main focus is on teaching a short lesson to students who come in for scheduled stories and then giving them the opportunity to check out books.  She will gladly assist teachers who come in to teach research segments to their students, but she doesn’t initiate any type of activity other than reading a story to the students.  As I have been adding my certification, she has been amazed and in awe of the many changes that have taken place in the program since she completed the program.  In my opinion, she is severely criticized by the faculty and staff at my school.  Not to make excuses for her, but I feel sometimes she is running into a brick wall.  The lack of training combined with the lack of respect from co-workers combined with the lack of funding creates a difficult work environment.  I know I will make mistakes of my own and I still have tremendous amount to learn, but I’m hoping I can bring about positive changes and let our school see some of the many opportunities that are available.

We have a very knowledgeable teacher in our computer lab.  As a media specialist, I feel it would be beneficial to form an alliance with the computer lab teacher.  I’m sure many teachers are like me and totally unaware of all the wonderful programs that are available.  I feel it would be beneficial to give teachers a brief overview of some of the programs that training will be made available for.  Next, I would like to survey teachers to see what their needs and interest are with technology training.  This would be a time it would be helpful to meet with teachers in their grade level meetings to get an idea and feeling of their needs and levels of knowledge.  Since we have a computer lab, training could be conducted for a fairly large group, if needed.  I feel multiple levels of training should be made available in order to maintain focus and interest.  It would also be beneficial to coordinate with the district office IT department to see if they have time to come to our school and provide some classes.  For example, it’s always an issue at the beginning of the year when teachers need to set classroom computers up.  This year we had new technology, but no training on how to connect everything.  It would have been very helpful if during our pre-planning meetings someone from the IT department had given a few minutes during one of our meetings to explain the new technology and the basics for connections.  This could help alleviate some of the confusion at the beginning of the school year.

While there will always be technology issues, I feel it is imperative to have proper training – and to pass the training on to faculty and staff members.  If teachers can be shown how technology can benefit their students while making teaching easier and more engaging, teachers will be more interested in training.  I’ve found in my teaching career I don’t mind going to a training if it is well planned and relevant to me.  Our media specialist is right in saying that technology changes quickly, but teaching the basics can go a long way.