Frustration with administrative tech skills

In response to my blog post "!2 Signs Your Tech Leadership is Obsolete," (Dec 19, 2011) a tech consultant in New York writes:

I'd have to take exception to some of the things contained here although they are a good start. I've worked as a consultant in 5 area schools in the last 12 years. I currently work at a school as the TD but the problems in most schools are the people at the top. My Superintendent, Business Official and Principals wouldn't know the difference from a wireless connection and a wired connection even if they were standing in the middle of a room using an iPad w/ no cables. I am appalled at the total lack of Technology skills with every Superintendent, Business Official and Principal I've met. Also, teachers still have their head in the sand regarding technology. This stuff has not just shown up in our schools!!! You want to fix the Educational system, fire all school administrators and replace them with young administrators w/ technology skills. The problem w/ most school administrators is that they were teachers that had no technology skills and didn't want to improve them. We have people at the top that make the true decisions regarding Technology. We can point at the TD's and kind of blame them but they have little to no control over the resources to expand Technology for K-12. I welcome anyone else to sway me from what I've seen in five different districts. Also, everyone that is a TD please tell me how much true control they have over their own budget? I do enjoy a lot of freedom in Technology but when PD money isn't funded properly, what can I do about how much Technology impacts the Education Process? Frustrated in New York

As President Clinton like to say, "I feel your pain." At one time or another, every tech director has probably marveled at the lack of an administrator's knowledge of and interest in the educational uses of technology. 

There is a popular saying that goes something like, "Technology is dominated by two types of people - those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand."

But I would add a caution. While many of us technology folks might understand the difference between a wired and wireless connection (and know how to make one work), we may not be as knowledgeable about pedagogy, child development, and the political realities of school as we might think. 

Might the little diatribe above be easily flipped to describe technologists and their appalling lack of knowledge about education?

A rant is good for the soul and I write them on a regular basis. But we also need to find constructive means of bridging the understanding gaps among all groups of educators. Here is a start: Resources for improving administrative technology understandings. Frustrated, please take some time to look it over.

It's time we stopped offering classes on ...

I've been using a word processor since 1982. That's 30 years. About half my life. Longer than many of you have been alive.

Can't we stop offering classes to adult educators in "basic word processing"?

I've been using e-mail for since 1992. You do the math.

Can't we stop offering classes to adult educators in "e-mail basics"?

Our district has used the same web host, electronic gradebook, and student information system for over 5 years.

Can't we stop offering classes to adult educators in "how to create a webpage," "how to enter your grades," and "how to take attendance"?

Teachers have had two years of using Google Docs in Education.

Can't we stop offerning classes in "Calendar Basics in Google Apps"?

A few weeks ago, I listed some technology proficiencies we expect of all our staff. It's a good and necessary list. But the thing is, we need to figure out not only WHAT we need to be offering to teachers in training on technology related skills, but when to STOP offering them as well.

To this end, we are taking a cue from our district's strategic roadmap in which all initiatives are categorized as Learning Work, Implementation Work, or Standard Work.*

These tables are an initial attempt to define and coordinate the staff development needs in technology between the staff development and technology departments, and to begin closer alignment with the format, terminology and goals of the district’s strategic roadmap.

Such an alignment will

• provide teachers and administrators a clearer picture of the expectations, needs and responsibilities in this rapidly evolving area of staff development
• help provide common goals among buildings across the district
• better leverage the time, work and funds spent on staff development
• offer additional services that can be provided by both the Continuous Improvement Coaches and Library Media Specialists

Learning work
Skill	Responsibility level	Learning Opportunities	Timeline
Communication
Social networking (blogs, wikis, Facebook, Twitter)	District	As requested
Personal productivity
Personal learning network formation	District	As requested
Data analysis/ gathering/ record keeping
Online survey tools	District	Pilot projects
Instructional use
ELF--Portable student-used/student- owned devices	District, Project ELF-Tech	Pilot projects
Classroom Management Systems (Moodle)	District	Pilot projects, Teacher Academy
Audio-enhancement systems	District
Instructional video creation	District	As requested
Teaching technology standards
Skills specific to content area applications (GIS for social studies, graphing software for math)	District	As requested by Department Chairpersons

Implementation work
Skill	Responsibility level	Learning Opportunities	Timeline
Communication
Student information system (Infinite Campus) communication tools	District/Building	New teacher training week	New teachers-August
Personal productivity
Word processing (MAPSApps)	District/Building	CODE77, Techie Tues, Teacher Academy
Calendar (MAPSApps)	District/Building	CODE77, Techie Tues, Teacher Academy
Presentations (MAPSApps)	District/Building	CODE77, Techie Tues, Teacher Academy
Data analysis/ gathering/ recordkeeping
Viewpoint	Assessment Dept, CI Coaches	Teacher Academy
Career analysis tool (Naviance)	Guidance Dept, Career Education Dept
Instructional use
Interactive response systems	Media specialists
Intervention resources (Compass Learning,IXL Math, Read 180/System 44, Read Naturally, V math, TransMath)	Staff Development	District (Stephanie White, Tracy Brovold)	Move to Standard Work fall 2012
GoogleApps for Education (with students)	District Tech Dept	Teacher Academy
Teaching technology standards

Standard work
Skill	Responsibility level	Learning Opportunities	Timeline
Communication
E-mail	Building media specialists	Techie Tuesdays, New Teacher Induction
Webpage creation	Building media specialists	Techie Tuesdays, New Teacher Induction
Personal productivity
Word processing (Word)	Building media specialists	One-on-one
Presentations (Powerpoint)	Building media specialists	One-on-one
Data analysis/ gathering/ recordkeeping
Infinite Campus Grade book	Teacher coaches	New teacher training, online instruction
Spreadsheets	Building media specialists	One-on-one
Mastery manager	CI Coaches
Instructional use
Interactive white board (Smartboard)	Building media specialists	New teacher training,  One-on-one	Moodle Course in effect February
Teaching technology standards
Online research skills	Building media specialists	New teacher training, One-on-one

While there are plenty of holes in this plan, it seems to be a way of prioritizing technology-related staff development offerings; assigning responsibility for training (district or building); and, perhaps most importantly, articulating when we STOP doing formal training on a technology skill.

How does your district prioritize its staff development in technology and how does it decide when offering training is no longer necessary? 

Framework from Teamworks International

State of the e-book state in LJ

Audrey Watters does a great job summarizing the "state of the state" of e-book pilots and challenges in "The Truth About Tablets: Educators are Getting iPads and Ereaders into Student's Hands - But It's Not Easy" in February 1, 2012 Digital Shift department of Library Journal.

Illustration by Dave Cutler (Source)*

After summarizing some pilot projects of a few school districts and detailing current challenges to school libraries when implementing ereader programs. Ms Watters enumerates five legitimate Sticking Points:

These are the top five issues libraries face when it comes to using ereaders and tablets in school.

1. Platform lock-in and lack of interoperability
2. Administering devices
3. Availability of the titles students and teachers want
4. Integration of the ebook catalog with the library catalog
5. Cost of both devices and ebook

Here is my modest proposal: School libraries should stop trying to provide ereader devices to students and concentrate on providing access to e-books that will work on as wide a variety of devices as possible for specific curricular purposes.

Such a plan would support both 1:1 initiatives and BYOD projects. It would encourage the serious examination of "why" an e-format is preferable to a paper format. If devices are to be provided, they should be a part of a student's IEP and a serious assessment of their effectiveness should done a part of that IEP.

For elementary students, web-based collections make the most sense, especially when they are accessible from home and can be used simultaneously by multiple readers. Borrowing limits, platform compatibility (except Flash perhaps), and image quality would not be issues. 

For secondary students, the focus should be on titles that would be used primarily for research and curriculum support. Again, I would ONLY consider titles that were available in formats that can be read by apps and programs that are available on Windows, MacOS, iOs, and Android systems. To me, e-books are a logical extension of providing other short-time use materials online - reference materials, full-text periodical databases, etc. 

Let's get real. No publisher is going to sell a library a copy of The Hunger Games for lower cost than a print copy, give libraries the ability to put it on multiple devices to be used by multiple readers at the same time forever, and strip DRM from the file. At best, libraries will get popular titles for a slightly lower cost than print version, available with DRM, and available to one reader at a time on specific devices.

I engage in wishful thinking as much as the next person, I suppose, but ranting, waiting, and piloting ad infinitum will not provide materials to students in forms that are economical and useful. Keep buying the latest vampire titles in paper and those books to support that science units in e-format.

Move forward - intelligently.

See also: http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2011/11/11/defining-terms-associated-with-e-book-use.html 

* Since I was taken to task by SLJ for using an illustration from their website in a previous post, I thought I would explain here why the use of such illustrations squarely meets my understanding of Fair Use guidelines:

• The illustration is used for purposes of comment and criticism.
• The illustration is properly cited and only a portion of a the larger work (the column).
• I receive no monetary advantage for using the illustration (there is no commercial aspect to this blog) nor does its use deprive the creator of profit from the work.
• The use is for educational purposes.

That being said, if the owner of the work asks that it not be used here, I would remove it.