In a recent Google for Education article, “The new Training Center; professional development by and for educators,” the author speaks of an issue that I have been thinking about throughout the school year. We adopt a lot of tech and then are not trained in it.The article states that the major stresses in the workplace, 71% of people indicate that this is a major stress area. I can attest to this being a stress creator in my own teaching. In fact, sadly it has become kind of a joke, in that we are sometimes not provided with the training we need to really access a particular technology.
My administration has been early adopters in a lot of valuable areas. Their main thinking has always been to adopt technologies and practices that which benefits the students. I cannot say that I have not agreed to the adoption of a technology without properly thinking about the ramifications of that adoption.
A couple of years ago, the Kindergarten and first grade teams in my school were given 3 ipads per classroom. Everyone of the teachers agreed that this would be a good idea mainly since their children are exposed to this technology (and tablets in general) more so than desktop or laptop computers. Everyone was excited. Few teachers disagreed with the adoption of this tech. This has created several challenges over the course of the adoption.
All technology is fraught with adoption problems. I find that accepting the position that there will be challenges, gives me the strength to handle the situation since I know that something will go wrong. Problem solving skills: Isn’t this what I am to be teaching my students?
Implications for administrators:
1. Providing professional development. It is our duty as administrators to think about the technology we purchase and then think to provide the staff with the opportunity to get some professional development. Along these lines this professional development need not take place in the summer and be provided for by the head of the technology department from our district but may come from another source.
2. Giving teachers professional development points for taking online training classes. We as administrators need to be willing to accept other sources of education in addition to district provided sources. At the conclusion of the article, the author shared the link to the Google for Education Training Center g.co/edutrainingcenter
3. Thinking about how these things will be used. Prior to adoption, the administration really needs to think about how the technology will be applied to the classroom and be used by both teachers and children. What benefit if any is provided to the children. When we adopted the iPads, many applications were downloaded without thinking aside from the fact that they were free. The children would play with them until the “free” time ended or were asked to pay for added features. I find that this is a larger problem for apps aimed at children.
4. Rationale about misgivings. Typically, people struggle with change. It is the duty of the administration to reflect upon the fact that these teachers may not be complainers, they may have valid points. Many times when changes are mentioned in a faculty meeting the staff that is resistant to change will create a litany of reasons against adoption of that change. However, while these teachers may dislike change and create discord. They may actually have valid reasons for their opinions. So a good administrator will take into account that they may be creating reasons, there may be some good reasons located within their opinions.
5. Prior use. Perhaps it is time for administrators to take the lead in using the technology that they are about to employ within the school. Our district recently adopted a new system of taking attendance, recording grades, and writing IEP’s. A coworker and I were the first in the building trained ahead of the administration and the secretarial staff. Maybe it is time for administration to take the lead in learning these technologies.
One final thought: In looking over the resources included within the article, I feel as though when I have some time to work on this. I may find that I may want to become a Google Certified Educator. I mean I have been using their products for the past 8 years when I was first introduced to Gmail and Docs, I might as well go the whole route and actually get certified. You know lead by example and all.
Links:
Article:
http://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-new-Training-Center-professional-development-by-and-for-educators.html
Training:
https://edutrainingcenter.withgoogle.com/
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