Technology skeptic - and proud

Thank you for articulating what some of us are thinking but perhaps afraid to say for fear of being labeled a stick in the mud or a fuddy-duddy. I am not necessarily opposed to a maker space, but it should serve a real purpose and not just be a fun extra. I think your questioner is right that librarians have been too eager to add whatever they can in an attempt to be relevant and it has cost us by eroding our core mission. Robin in a comment on recent post

Skeptic. Cynic. Fuddy-Duddy.  Technophobe. Reactionary.

or

Critical thinker. Fiscally responsible. Team player. Realist.

An early column of mine "There Isn't a Train I Wouldn't Take" and an article written a few years later "The PSLA (Probability of Large Scale Adoption) Predictors" both urged a retrained and thoughtful approach when considering adding new technologies to a school. A simple rubric from the later article looks at some criteria to consider before writing the check and developing the implementation plan:

I am not sure what I was thinking when listing Usefullness/need as just one (and not even the first) criteria in this list.  If the considered new technology, program, or method does not actually address a genuine need in the district nor does it align with the district's mission and strategic plan, why even mess with the other criteria?

As I concluded earlier "A dollar spent on a failure is one less dollar spent on something beneficial to our students. New initiatives need to based on more than good sales pitch."

It's a zero sum game, folks. Let's do our best to make each dollar count. 

Your friendly fuddy-duddy.