Technophobia Coupled with “Blocked” Accessibility
I began the MAET program in the summer of 2008 as an educational technology novice (Yes, this course is a bit out of sequence for me!). As soon as courses began, I wanted to implement absolutely everything I was learning. However, when I returned to school that fall, with lists of things to try, I quickly realized that so much of what I wanted tackle was impossible as our district’s technological restrictions in our district are incredibly tight. Needless to say, it was a huge disappointment to have so many new educational tools and not be able to use them due to district constraints. Despite the passage of a substantial technology bond, our district remains highly conservative with technology and its use. We have the technology, but the professional discretion of educators is not respected. For example, we have the ability to display our computer monitor contents on our classroom televisions, but we, the teachers, cannot access sites such as YouTube, which are blocked district-wide to avoid exposure to “inappropriate content”. Shouldn’t we, the adults in the classroom, be able to discern which videos or resources might not be appropriate for our student-viewers?
Also, in our district, technology integration is deliberate rather than seamless. Teachers are told they should use “tech A” or “tech B” rather than shown how those technologies might compliment their existing teaching strategies and systems. As a result, many teachers are hesitant when it comes to using and integrating educational technology in their classrooms and daily practices. Among our staff, both fear of the technologies themselves and phobias regarding perceived inadequacy with technology and/or straying from current habits exist.
Rather than waging a technology war independently, my colleague (Wheatley) and I have decided to tag-team on a mini-battle with the goal of upgrading our archaic Homework Hotlink and relieving some of the technology fears of colleagues in our building, and if all goes well, move our efforts on to a higher level; maybe another school or possibly the district.
Our current Homework Hotlink is the epitome of “old school”. It has to be updated weekly and is an approach that does not show that we, as a school, embrace current technology, interactivity, or user-friendliness for all stakeholders involved. Our Homework Hotlink essentially utilizes Word documents as “web pages”. We have teachers who stress weekly over this approach as they regularly have to call web/tech support to assist them in their update. We are required to submit lesson plans weekly in our district and collaborative planning and best practice methods is highly desired. The sad truth is that our current method isn’t easy to use and it truly lacks depth for both teacher and viewer.
Our combined efforts will utilize the cost-free web technologies of Google Calendar and Weebly to help solve the problems that lurk behind our current Homework Hotlink system. One general issue (that is not addressed by our Homework Hotlink as it stands) is that teachers lack time. With more on their plates than ever, teachers simply do not have the extra minutes or hours that are required to properly maintain their Hotlinks. Also, in our building there is a desire to maintain our Evergreen status as a Michigan Green School and show that we are more technologically forward. The Homework Hotlink wastes time and resources by requiring weekly print-outs to “save the assignments from that week” and in a single glance one can see that our “Word document web pages” are less than tech-savvy. With this implementation, we hope to guide our colleagues into the comfort of easy-to-use technologies that can be updated from anywhere that the Internet is available, avoid the need to print paper versions of teachers’ weekly tasks, and help us live up to the notion of being “technologically forward” as well as make voters proud of passing such a generous bond as it would substantiate our accountability in implementing technology.
The first step in our implementation has begun with part 1: a few colleagues have created basic Weebly pages and are embedding their Google Calendars. Fast approaching is part 2: More colleagues creating Weebly sites into which they will embed their Google Calendars where editing is easy, and true interactivity between teachers, parents and students is possible. A change of plans due to a snow day or illness is a quick, simple fix from any computer with Internet access and the interface of Weebly is workable for even the most technophobic educator.
Success will be a self-granted title if we manage to save some teachers' time, give them a more technologically advanced means to communicate, and if the users (teachers/parents/students) say that they like the new format more. These goals can be measured and evaluated with the creation and use of a survey. After evaluating the survey results, we can determine our future direction with our plan. I think that this is a remarkable opportunity to be technology teacher leaders in our school and model the effective use and integration of appropriate educational technologies.
Resources:
Youtube- Weebly for Education
Tech Crunch- Weebly Launches New Managed Site Builder for Educators and Students
BrightHub- Using Weebly for Education ro Create Classroom Websites and Student Blogs
Embed Google Calendar in Weebly tutorial
I think this is a fantastic idea. My school also has decided to blog, what seems like, everything; Weebly being one of the main sites that they have blocked. Are you using one on one coaching to teach these teachers how to create a weebly site, or are they figuring it out on their own? This may take some time for you, but it might be helpful to create a how-to-guide with screen shots (like our group project) to aid teachers in their creation. Then they will have something to go back to if they have an issue. One of the teachers in my building did that with a program called ExamView and it was very helpful.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea and good luck! I hope it all works out!
While I am obviously biased, I'm JAZZED about this idea. :) I have already heard positive feedback from parents, administration, and some of the teachers we have trained, so that's promising! The points you make about district tech constraints are good--and sadly, are pretty common. Many districts want to appear all "techy", but when it comes down to it, they don't want to walk the talk. Touting how "techy"' they are does not make them truly technologically forward.
ReplyDeleteAlso, SWEET work on finding some useful pre-made tutorials on Weebly and on embedding Google Calendar! It's always nice when you don't have to re-invent the wheel-- and tutorials made the by companies themselves are often a good way to go. :) Good work, partner! :)
Amanda, we are using one-on-one coaching. A big reason is that its tough to find time for people all to be available at once... as we learned in trying to plan our meeting! However, some teachers are the kind of learners where they want to try to figure it out on their own with some trial and error who then inquire when they need to. Some, on the other hand, need complete step by step guidance. I guess that like 13 year old students, everyone learns differently. Another factor here is their age and comfort with technology. We are finding that those less comfortable get frustrated much more easily and those with a reasonable amount of comfort are thrilled to be learning something new and already foresee the time they will save!
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