Blessing in disguise

The Gods have two ways of dealing harshly with us – the first is to deny us our dreams,
and the second is to grant them. Oscar Wilde

Image source

With no small degree of amusement I read Patrick Welsh's editorial in the washingtonpost.com - A School That's Too High on Gizmo (Sun, Feb 10, 2008). Schaudenfruede, I believe the experience is called.

Welsh complains that teacher morale in his high school in Alexandria, VA, "is the lowest and cynicism the highest" he has seen. Why? There has been a top-down implementation of new technologies like fixed LCD projectors, hand-held devices to use with the the LCDs and school-issued student laptops. (All stuff many, even most, of my teachers would kill to have.)

Welsh's teachers seem to be expected to use this equipment for instruction whether it fit their teaching styles or not. It doesn't sound like teachers were given a voice in the selection or implementation of the technology. Looks like a lot of one-size-fits all kind of thinking. Or as my dad would've said, "These are people with more money than sense." It seems to me the teachers have a right to complain.

It's unlikely such an article would be written by one of my disrict's teachers. But that's less to do with my magnificent leadership and planning skills and more to do with our schools' finances. Our district rarely has the funds to implement any technology in one swell foop. And that is probably a blessing in disguise. Teacher computers, interactive whiteboards, mounted LCD projectors, audio enhancements systems, portable labs and classroom mini-labs have all been phased-in over time. Teachers need to submit thoughtful proposals to obtain most of this equipment and it is on the basis of these proposals that we usually determine who gets the gizmos first. (An early example is here.)

Hmmm, giving tech to teachers who actually want it - what a concept!

Now we do have some technology requirements of all teachers. Everyone is expected to:

• Take attendance and lunch count online.
• Submit grades online and keep them up-to-date and accessible to parents via the web.
  
• Complete electronic progress reports, report cards and IEP forms.
• Read bulletins and announcements sent via email.
• Have a basic online presence with contact information for parents.

Pretty basic, managerial kinds of things - nothing that would dictate how or what teachers teach.

There is, however, an interesting discussion going on - should all teachers be required to teach an identified set of information and technology literacy skills in their classes at the secondary level. Doing so, I expect, would necessitate teachers also using the technology as well. The other discussion we continue to have is what constitutes a minimum web presence. Is just contact information enough or should teachers be required to make other information available as well - classroom support materials, forms, etc.? So we will also be askeing whether teachers can opt out of using  classroom voice enhancement systems that seem to be helping a lot of kids hear and understand verbal instruction?

Nobody much likes being told what to do. No teacher likes his/her professionalism questioned. But nobody wants to see our students not get the IT/IL skills they need to survive because teachers opt out of teaching them. And all parents who wish to be partners in their children's educational experience ought to have the right to access the materials that will help them be effective partners. And it seems the use of audio enhancement systems is a no-brainer - at least to me. (To date we have few of these and they've all been requested by teachers.)

Where's the balance? What should be optional and what should be required? How does your school keep from being "too high on gizmos"?

Problem or dilemma?

...a problem is a situation in which a gap is found between what is and what ought to be. ... How a problem is framed depends on who is doing the defining.

...Dilemmas are messy, complicated, and conflict-filled situations that require undesirable choices between highly prized values that cannot be simultaneosly or fully-solved.

Larry Cuban, How Can I Fix It: Finding Solutions and Managing Dilemmas. Teachers College Press, 2001 

Dr. Cuban's definitions come back to me fairly often when educators talk about tech issues. In short, he says problems can be solved, but dilemmas only managed. Here are just a few examples:

Our media specialists want access to a management program (ARD) so that they can take control of computers in the labs during instruction (look at student screens, freeze monitors, share the instructor's screen, etc.) Our techs see this as huge drain on network bandwidth, slowing the network for the rest of the building's users.

A classroom teacher wants to video, digitize and then upload as a videocast his classes so students who are absent or want to review can download and watch the lesson. The tech director is concerned that students' privacy rights (and board policy) will be violated if students can be recognized in the videocast.

The building techs are upset because another program has been adopted by a curriculum area without any involvement by the technology department. Not having new computer applications vetted by the department for compatibility and need for maintenance has been a long-standing source of frustration, no matter how many reminders are sent to department chairs and administrators.

I would categorize each of the above scenarios as dilemmas - conditions that can only be managed, not solved because they involve conflicts in values. Because of individual priorities and "problem frames," it is impossible to deal with these issues so that everyone gets what she/he desires.

So how are these situations best dealt with? Personally, I like using my advisory committee (or a task force) comprised of all stakeholders effected to fully air the issue, suggest actions, and make a recommendation. Does everyone always like the result? No. But everyone knows why it has been made and has had a chance to have had their concerns heard. (See also, Ending the Range War handouts in .pdf.)

Sorry folks, that's about the best we can do - other than putting tranquilizers in the school's drinking water. Get Cuban's little book. You'll gain from it.

 

Budget handouts

Yes, the set of handouts you have all been breathlessly waiting for! Available now (just in time for holiday giving) at:
http://dougjohnson.squarespace.com/storage/handouts/techbudget.pdf

Remember - all my writing has been approved by the FDA as a non-addictive sleep aid.