NOLA 2014

NOLA 2014

Wednesday, July 6, 2016

Are we working backwards?

With all of the technology available to teachers, and classrooms, and school districts, educators are bombarded with choices. Marketing reps from EdTech companies put their information out there at conferences to show-off how their program can be used to maximize student achievement.

But where are the teachers in this process? Teachers are on the front line. Teachers already know what they need, what their students need, and can imagine ways to make their classrooms run more efficiently. Some are intimidated my the tech aspect of their job and are satisfied with using their devices for attendance, grading, and power point. Professional development in tech is usually centered around a new program adopted by the district. Some teachers can't wait to jump in, while others may be reluctant to try it. For someone already anxious around technology, experimentation, in front of a room full of students whose attention is already a hot commodity and not something you want to risk losing, can be daunting.

My school received Apple's ConnectED grant and recently went 1:1 with Ipads. Apple sent in support people to make sure our school was physically wired and set up to run 400 devices, but they also sent teacher trainers. We had a wonderful trainer who quickly realized that the level of comfort our teachers felt with technology was as diverse as our student population. She focused her instruction on teaching us the basics-Keynote, Pages, Padlet, GoogleEarth, IMovie, and Explain Everything. Clearly, these are Apps that she has found educators to use and appreciate. As we explored with our new devices and programs, teachers began discussing ways these apps could be used in their classrooms. "I wonder if it could be used for..." "Would this help with..." "How would it work if..."

Great questions. And a great place to begin?

Where You At, Tech?

Why are Software Developers beginning with the App and then asking teachers how to implement them? This seems so backwards. Why are teachers not at the helm of technology?

I may not be a software engineer, but I most certainly can tell one what I would like to happen in my classroom, for my students. Teachers are by nature, dreamers and creators. Free thinkers and problem solvers. If we're going to "Be The Change," we need someone to ask what that change might be and help us with it.

Last year, I participated in Digital Promise's Pilot to Purchase Program at the Ed-Tech Industry Network Summit in San Francisco. This was an open conversation between School Districts, Administration, Teachers, and Ed-Tech companies. Our focus was on how to improve piloting technology in our classrooms. By gathering all of the stakeholders in a space to discuss what is working and what is not was wonderful. We need more conversations like this-up front.

Why aren't Ed-Tech software engineers approaching teachers and
asking them for ideas? Why isn't there a hub of savvy app builders willing to listen to a teacher pitch their idea and make it happen? A couple years ago, May 2014 in fact, I sent a message to a techy friend of mine asking if he could help me face my LCD projector downward 90 degrees and set up my interactive whiteboard on the floor so my squirmy little kiddos could actually get down and dirty. He told me this was not possible. I moved on. Now, I see videos about interactive fitness gyms and wonder why couldn't this have been done in my classroom? Maybe I didn't know the right people.

Organizations like 4.0 Schools appear to be moving in the right direction, offering a space and collaboration around an idea or concept. We need more. We can't wait for policy to catch up with the modern demands of education. I have another idea. As do other educators. Where do we go to bring them into reality? Open collaboration between Educators and IT. It shouldn't be this difficult.