Journeys in Education
Ramblings on ICT, Education, Web 2.0, Christianity and Staff PD
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Getting educators involved with using web technology
I had a very interesting time at a staff meeting on Thursday afternoon. To set the scene…… we have purchased a you-beaut, whiz-bang Learning Management System this year and we were having our first all in staff training session. We had all the teaching staff in a computer lab, a Go-to-Meeting set up with eduKate up in Qld and the lovely Kate from eduKate on the phone for the voice component. The session went for half an hour and to me it seemed fairly simple. But at the end of the meeting there was a few enthusiastic looking staff members and the rest (about 95%) looking at me absolutely shell shocked! At first I wondered why? To me it was nothing new I have been looking at learning management systems for the last year anda half, there has been lots of talk in our local area as well as in our school system about schools getting LMS’s set up and what they were doing with them. The staff had all gone through basic ICT training the precious year, and I had been talking to them about eduKate for the last 4-5 months! I assumed everyone would have a basic understanding of what a LMS is and have the basic ICT confidence to be able to make a start on using it. Hmm I was very wrong as the silence of my staff was overwhelming! But then my lovely Principal jumped up and gave a fantastically reassuring talk to the staff that it was OK to be totally overwhelmed with this and that we have a year to learn how to use it. Immediately the mood changed in the room.
Some things I realised…..only 1 or 2 of the staff (other than the small group of teachers that have commenced expert training) members had actually seen a Learning Management System before and knew what one was! I had assumed (incorrectly) that because staff had completed the ICDL last year that they now had the skills to explore all web 2.0 and ed tech has to offer by themselves. But obviously they don’t! So what to do?? How do I inspire, encourage engage this group of adults to embrace ICT and want to integrate it into their curriculum, to encourage collaboration and to look at Project Based Learning? Without needing constant hand holding?
My current strategy up to now has been to showcase a little bit of everything to the staff and hope that they will pick and use some of it. Whilst this has worked for some people; the people who have a natural tendency and a confidence with technology and aren’t afraid to try new things, it hasn’t worked with many of the staff who have found all sorts of excuses not to use technology in their classroom. I don’t think it has been a deliberate attempt to thwart my efforts but it is borne out of a genuine fear of the failure and a fear of the unknown. Our culture demands that we have the right answers all the time and that we don’t make any mistakes so experimenting with something as ‘risky’ as technology (so much can go wrong) is going to be a major issue for some staff.
So I am changing my strategy some what. I am still going to showcase lots of different web2.0 tech for those staff that are willing to embrace it. But for the staff that are struggling with the leap I am going to encourage them to pick one tool and gain mastery of it. E.g. master the Interactive whiteboard or a class blog or wiki. A tool that is foundational that will lead to the use of other tools. For example if they are using a blog well and then want to pop up some video footage of what they have been doing in class then that will enable them to explore the Flip and You Tube etc, etc. I am also going to resource as much material as I can from educators who are not tech gurus who can inspire my staff that all you have to do is take the first step. Sometimes having someone who they see as an IT geek talking to them all the time does not help as it produces the “well that’s OK for you, you’re good at IT!” response.
I have realised the importance of baby steps and keeping thing simple, and trying a strategy that build confidence and not fear or resentment.
This post has been written on Ideas for getting educators involved with using web technology as part of The Edubloggers birthday celebration competition.
10 Responses to “Getting educators involved with using web technology”
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February 7th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Happy Birthday Lisa and so sorry about changing your theme the other day (in the middle of your demo). But your new theme is definitely looking good. Cutline is one of my favorite themes because it is so clean.
Can totally relate to the situation you faced. Been there, used to facilitate PD at my TAFE and spent a year researching elearning leadership. There is lots of reasons why people buy into using technology; and what will motivate them and how much support they need will depend on where they are at.
One thing that we have found works really well is to turn it around the other way and find things that they would like to know more about that help their personal life. For example, using digital cameras and creating movies – this can sometimes motivate the most reluctant to spend lots of time making movies at home for their personal use. Others want to build websites for the sports club.
Regardless of what grabs them any time they spend learning increases their skills and ultimately helps them learn how to use with students.
PS agree with baby steps. Thanks for writing a post for the birthday celebrations.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Thanks for the the tip Sue! I think that is a great idea. It is very true the staff that use IT for more than just school work but use it in their personal life as well are far more able to adapt to new technologies at school. I have a ‘free’ week in my Wild Wednesday Workshop’s each term and I may just use it for that very thing. I really appreciate all that you do Sue. Your help is amazing!
February 27th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Thanks for the interesting post!
As a fifth grade teacher that has embraced the inclusion of technology in my classroom, I would agree with everything that you’ve shared in your post. I get the pleasure of trying to share my experiences with other teachers in my building. In my school, we have teachers with a range of experience and knowledge when it comes to technology.
This makes PD difficult considering some teachers are still struggling with Microsoft Office or documents cameras while other teachers are excelling at IWB usage and web 2.0 tools in their classrooms. (Yes, we’re very lucky to have a district that is supportive!)
Baby steps are important – so is the idea that people develop at different speeds!
-Mr. Lund
http://mrlund.edublogs.org
March 8th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Congratulations Lisa! This is a great post that reminds us that, in many schools, conducting PD with staff is just like teaching a class of students. They have differing abilities, interests, likes and dislikes. Catering to all of those needs is just as important as catering to the needs of our students.
All the best with EduKate too!
Lucy
March 13th, 2009 at 10:04 am
Congratulations on the win, Lisa!!
Colin
March 13th, 2009 at 11:19 am
I have the same issues where I am Lisa.
Some are the reasons for not taking on aspects of technology are that staff are too busy or that things work fine with what they’re already doing – so why should I use the technology.
On the one hand, I think the school should have an expectation that each staff member needs to have at least one technology goal in their PD plan for the year. And, that they need to take some ownership of it – with support and guidance from those with the skills.
This year, I am doing quite a lot of web2.0 projects with classes. The teacher sits in with the class and does what the students do. They do resist and I have to ask them (sometimes more than once) to sit down and have a go. In the past, I would create the blog/wiki account and pages and then the teacher supervises boys writing. This year, I sent the web link to two teachers to do that. After 4 weeks one teacher still hadn’t. Is it really that hard? I guess to a beginner it is. Then, so that the boys don’t miss out – I do it. Augh! Is that a learning circle!
Anyway, my comment is not meant to be about me complaining, but merely to say “I know what you’re saying”.
March 14th, 2009 at 11:13 am
I agree that sometimes it is necessary to take baby steps in integrating technology into the classroom. There are teachers at my school that would prefer to use limited technology. We are fortunate to have Promethean boards and lots of technology to use in the classroom. It often takes someone like yourself to demonstrate with confidence the benefits of incorporating technology in the classroom.
March 20th, 2009 at 1:32 am
You brought up some interesting points from what I can only assume is a IT site tech or admin point of view. I know there are teachers out there who are terribly afraid of technology just because they don’t “have time” or feel like they are going to fail. Baby steps are good. I think sometimes teachers are envious of others but don’t realize they could do the same things in their classroom with some small steps that add up to a giant step.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Good post,This was exactly what I needed to read today! I am sure this has relevance to many of us out there.
July 7th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Just revisiting this post, have some similar issues to overcome at my school and I like your strategy of taking baby steps .. very sensible