Session 6: Barriers to Technology Use

Barriers that I see or perceive- Which are actual barriers, and what are actually proxies, for something else. What would you do to solve, or get over, the barrier?

I am a gamer. Not much of one anymore, as family, grad school, teaching, training and supervision take a great deal of my time, but I am, at the heart of it, a gamer. Currently, the only game I have time for anymore is World of Warcraft (War-crack?) and that just intermittently. However, I seem more than willing to get past any hurdle, any barrier, the game puts in front of me...the more challenging the dilemma, the better the game experience for me. I see this as a truth for most of the player I encounter. Yet, the same players, myself included, see difficulties in the use of technology in a classroom as a barrier, an obstacle, not a challenge, and the same sense of conquering a dilemma does not lead us in our use of new technology. Why this disconnect between what, in a game format, is an entertaining challenge, and what in work is a stress-inducing, avoid-at-all-costs barrier?

In the gaming world, one is rewarded for breaking through barriers. Money, treasure, points, are all gained by combatting problems and solving them head on. There is a direct, consistent reward for getting past barriers, so much so that finding problems to solve becomes the point. In schools, barriers are there because 1) there are very little incentives to solving problems. 2) There is little support for solving and getting past barriers and 3) Expectations for one to solve problems are placed in front of us, causing stress, but no tools, paths, models, or support is given to show how the barrier can be overcome, no methods are shared among peers. "Do this, fix that, it should have been done yesterday, implement this, complete that, we don't know how it should be done, no one knows, just do it!"

As Dr. Newberry suggested in his post, it is leadership that gets us all past barriers. Since there is a natural proclivity for many of us to solve problems on our own, simply recognizing and rewarding those who focus on solving problems and share solutions would go a long way towards moving schools past technological hurdles. I also see the truth in the idea that clear directives, modeled expectations, understandable goals and consistent support would cause much of the time problem to take care of itself.

At my school, and against my wishes, a very large purchase of equipment was made- Tablet PC's, document cameras and projectors for every teacher. But no money, no support structure, no training schedule, no model of instructional integration, nothing, was created or purchased to give support to this purchase. And, as anyone in this program knows, the resulting stress, or worse, complete disinterest in the technologies use, is prevalent in my school. Instead of being seen as a way of increasing classroom productivity, student engagement, and instructional competency, the tools are being seen as another hurdle to bash into, and the possible transformative use of the technology is being squandered. Are those who took the initiative to integrate their technology in their classroom being rewarded or recognized? No, they are, in fact, being upbraided for causing too many problems with the system, or asking for too much help, or using time that has been set aside for specific program planning for technology support. Is there a model of how the technology should be used? Administration can not agree on any part of a model for use.

Kids should not be allowed to use the equipment. Kids must be allowed to use it everyday. Teachers must use the e-mail function everyday. Teachers may not e-mail in their classrooms! Teachers may not use their overheads anymore. Teachers are not to order bulbs for the document camera/projectors that replaced their overheads. Teachers need to use flipcharts. Teachers are not allowed to download flipcharts from the internet.

The barriers, as you can see, were predictable and completely avoidable. But no leadership was given, and the structure and personnel used in previous successful technology integrations was ignored. And, the lessons from the gaming wold were never learned and used- reward, recognize achievement, lower the stress threshold, and make the technology fun. Instead, it has been humiliation, ignorance and profound disorganization.

How would I fix it?

First, recognize and reward success. A blurb or line in the weekly bulletin about who is doing what with the new equipment would be nice.

Second, I would construct a consistent path of knowledgeable staff to work as support for the implementation, and I would reward these staff with pay and/or readjusted duty.

Third, I would mandate weekly technology sharing of ideas and flipcharts during our planning time.

Fourth, I would encourage the use of the technology by students.

Fifth, I would release teachers with roving subs to see the use of the new technology in classrooms in their school.

And finally, I would continue to make the use of technology fun. Get away from unstructured and unsupported mandates, and remind teachers the fun they and their students can have with the new toys that were purchased.

That's how a gamer would do it, at least.