I remember stories growing up of my father being taught to swim by his brothers. Basically, they took him to the middle of a lake and threw him out of the boat. Swim or drown was the option — he chose to swim.
Because of that, in all my recollections of my father, I do not remember him ever enjoying swimming.
On the other hand, my 2 sisters and I were taken to swimming lessons each summer and we would go swimming at the El Camino college pool often and to this day, I enjoy swimming. Very much.
Why do I tell this story — because I see the same thing happening in our “network” of educators using and teaching the tools of tech and I am not quite sure how to stop what seems is occuring.
Within the last few weeks I have led a few inservices and attended a conference, and see that there is a huge divide growing between the tools that are available and the basic skill level of the person we are talking to.
We are showcasing flickr and skype and wikis and blogs and this and this and this tool…………& some (sometimes most) of the listeners don’t even know how to type in a url, where to type in a url, where start is, how to double click (let alone right click), or even how to _________________________________________. (you can fill in the blank.)
We talk about what not to do within powerpoint to teachers who don’t even know how to open powerpoint or what powerpoint is. We talk about editing a wiki to people who don’t even know where to find the log on button. We jump into conversations of the power of skype, and forget about the trickiness of getting your mic configured to work with skype. We showcase how to collaborate with classrooms across thw world to teachers who don’t even chat with the teacher next door.
I know that the recent conference in Shanghai did a very good job at making a bridge across the chasm. by having many unconference sessions (many for the newbie)….but I also know, after talking to one of the session leaders, that when discussing Web 2.0, he was surprised at how many people had not even heard of it or the tools available.
We continue to seem to be here on this side of the chasm, while our audience is on the other side, looking for the bridge to get across. I also know that I assume that everyone is at my comfort level and I often miss some of the fundamentals, the basics, the beginnings. At a recent conference, I heard a wonderful session shared (at which every step I knew exactly where the leader was) and at the very end, the question asked was “How did you get to get to that first page?”
And I think we go to fast………and leave people in the dust. Frustrated, feeling stupid because they don’t get it, and chalking it up to “I just am not one to use tech.” And I know I am guilty of this too.
So what do we do……………how to we meet both sides of the chasm? How do we not just throw people into the water and expect them to swim without being taught the basics? And I guess, I am wondering, what are the basics that need to be givens???
That is my quandry this week.
I would appreciate your thoughts too.
Jen
This is one essential problem with K-12 education.
I’m not surprised that people don’t know about many tools because change is constant and education needs to be, too. But do they know how to define their challenges and goals, seek out new tools or solutions, and focus enough to try one or two new things a year? That’s true education. Or are they simply content to do what they’ve always done because they have it down now.
As for not knowing the basics – why not? Computers have been around at least 28 years. Sure lots has changed over the decades, but basics like clicking, double clicking and URLs haven’t changed in 15 years. Presentation software in some form has been around for at least 10-15 years. Spreadsheets have been around for 30 years. This is NOT new stuff!
No one I know still uses a TV with a dial tuner or a dial telephone. These “newfangled” digitally tuned TVs and push button phones are less than 20 years old – far “younger” than computers. We’d raise an eyebrow at people who still use such old technology – or nod understandingly because they are 85 years old, though even my 85 year old grandma has the “newer” type of TV and phone.
Where is continuous education? Why isn’t this basic knowledge seeking and technical education required in schools? It’s all out the window because so many “experienced” teachers do not WANT to learn “new” tools, the unions support their right to ignorance, and no one with the power to change the requirements is mandating change.
We’re still teaching what, not how; facts, not knowledge. Formal education is essential, but the way we present it is becoming more and more irrelevant. One of Dean Shareski’s students summed it up pretty well when (s)he asked, “Why do I need to memorize stuff when I can pull out my iPod touch and find the answer in 3 seconds?”
Oh, Jen. You bring up so many questions.
First, let me say that the divide isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are people in various places on the continuum of technological prowess, sure. But if we dumb everything down to the lowest common denominator, if we assume nothing — no prerequisite skills — we’re never going to get anything done. There are teachers in my own schools — many of them, in fact — who don’t know how to print to anything but the default printer. They don’t know when to single click and when to double click. The right mouse button is a complete mystery to them. But I don’t see that as either my fault or my problem. They’ve had the technology, and they’ve had the professional development opportunities, for more than 12 years. The fact that they’re still at square one means they’re not putting the effort in. And I’m not waiting for them anymore.
The fact that we have some communities and some resources that target more “advanced” users is a good thing. It allows everyone to grow.
That doesn’t mean we never cover the basics. But I do make it clear that deficiencies ARE deficiencies when they come up. It’s not all right. They should know this stuff. Case in point: this past week I led a short trainng session on using our district’s content management system. There were maybe a dozen people present, most of whom are PSO presidents and newsletter editors. The point of the session was to show people how to create new articles on the web site and post them. We also covered uploading and linking to files and pictures. It’s all using a web interface, and it’s all (IMHO) fairly intuitive.
At one point, someone asked about spell check. The editor doesn’t have it. I feigned a confused look, and made some joke about not spelling words wrong. In reality, I use Firefox as my browser, so every form has a built-in spell check. I pointed this out. But more useful for them was the idea of composing in another program, and copying and pasting into the web form. I demonstrated this by opening a word document, selecting all the text, copying it, and pasting it into the web form.
You would have thought that I was trying to explain the theory of relativity to them. Or maybe the thinking behind why the Hadron Collider was going to create a black hole and destroy the Earth. I showed them again. Open the Word document, CTRL-A, CTRL-C, ALT-TAB, CTRL-V. Stunned silence.
I tried a different tact. Click on the icons. Edit, Select All. Edit, Copy. Switch applications with the mouse. Click in the editor window. Use the paste button on the toolbar (which I had to look for, since I’d never used it before). A couple people got it. Most had glazed looks. I went through it again, and was stopped several times, so they could write the steps down.
When we got to talking about RSS, I went to the web site and pointed at the icon. “If you know what this is, I’m just pointing out that it’s here. If you don’t know what it is, forget I said anything. I am not going to explain it to you today.” A couple of them seemed genuinely miffed, but I had developed enough of a rapport with most of them that they trusted me when I told them they’d had enough technological confusion for one day.
These people are NEVER going to understand Twitter. Google Docs would be a major paradigm shift for them. Delicious would spark a little interest, but create a lot of confusion. So we HAVE to teach things at different levels. We HAVE to make some assumptions and not try to reach everyone all the time.
The key with teachers, if I can ever get to the point here, is to start with a problem. Start with something about technology that annoys them, or that they REALLY need to be able to do. Then, show them the solution. A simple solution. Then, let them go. When they’re ready for more, they’ll come back. Give them the next step, the next problem, the next enhancement. And then wait for their colleagues to start coming to you. It’s slow, but it works.
Example: one of my science teacher’s school computer crashed last spring. Her hard drive died. No big deal. We put a new hard drive in, and re-imaged the machine. Her email is all on the server. Her documents are all on the server. Not a big deal.
Her bookmarks weren’t. They were on the local computer. She lost a couple thousand bookmarks, all divided and categorized into the various units she teaches. She was devastated.
I showed her Delicious. She was impressed. Her home and work bookmarks, all in one place. She can get to them from anywhere. She can share them with others. When her computer crashes, she doesn’t lose them. It solved a problem.
For our summer technology class, we added a day for Delicious. The teachers were so excited about it that they didn’t want to move on to other topics the next day. Now, they’re building their own networks, sharing links, finding stuff others have found valuable, and solving their original problems of bookmark backups and portability.
That’s how we have to do it.
@Deb and John!!
Yes and Yes and No and YES!!
I agree with so much you are saying — almost 100%…..
I agree that we don’t want to dummy down.
I agree that change is necessary — always.
I don’t agree with just because computers have been here for 28 years means that it isn’t “New Stuff” to some people.
I do agree with we have to start with the problem.
In my travels — small as they are — I am not finding teachers to be reluctant or even resistant. Few teachers I have met have said “I WAS FORCED to attend this “Tech” conference”…..so just their presence in the session means an openness to learning new things. And it was one thing I liked about what I heard about L2.008 was that the playing field was leveled often on user ability. And some of the conversations were repeated with higher opportunities learned at each new session.
But just like today, while watching a ustream online, the speaker asked how many people used a wiki or a blog ….. I saw no hands raised that I could see, and the speaker just continued on with showing how to embed what was being talked about into the tool no one was using.
That is what is confusing me…..
Smiles — I thank you both for taking the time today to share your thoughts. I am sure we will discuss this again.
When I started in my current job nearly a decade ago, I asked the staff what kind of professional development they needed. the number one response was, “I need to learn how to make a web page.” Fine. We had a web server. So I taught them to do web pages. I used Netscape Composer. I used Frontpage Express. I used Adobe Pagemill. I did sessions on creating web sites from MS Office documents (and the dangers of going that route). I did sessions on the free, hosted, online sites. After three or four years, I stopped doing them. I realized that the SAME PEOPLE were coming to the classes. Every time. And they still didn’t have web sites.
I stopped for a few years. People would ask. I’d give them a list of options. But I wouldn’t teach them how to do it. Some made sites with just about all of the tools I mentioned. Many are still using them.
In late 2005, I discovered WordPress and realized that’s the way to go for teacher web sites. They don’t have to be site designers. I can make it as easy for them as using email. We started doing training sessions with it. For a year, I refused to use the word “blog.” We just called it web site software. They were enthusiastic. They were excited about their new sites. They left the sessions confident that they finally had a solution for maintaining an online presence.
This summer, I deleted more than 40 blogs that hadn’t been updated in more than a year.
That’s what I mean by commitment. It’s not that they don’t want to come to the inservice sessions. It’s not that they’re not interested. But there’s no follow-through for many of them. So I’m a lot more interested in the 5% who actually DO something with the technology. Let’s take them to the next level. Because my time and resources are extraordinarily limited, and they’re going to provide a much better return on investment.
Unfortunately, the teachers you are meeting at the tech conferences are a small minority. Of course most want to be there! It’s a self-selected group. But it’s a small group, relative to the whole.
Stats to prove my point: there are 117,000 teachers in Ohio. Ohio has the 2nd largest state tech conference in the US. In a typical year, attendance is 4,000. Assuming they are ALL teachers from Ohio, that’s only 3% of all Ohio teachers. THOSE teachers are not part of the problem – they are part of the solution. Maybe 3x that many teachers are tech proficient and just don’t come to the conference. That still leaves 94%. We can’t afford to wait for that 94% to retire or get out of the way.
Do you drive a car? Of course you do! Do you know someone who doesn’t know how to drive? I know one – and she’s in her upper 80′s. Most people get a new car at LEAST once a decade. They learn new features, new ways of doing the same thing, with their new car. I rarely hear people say, “Oh – I can drive, but not YOUR car because I’ve never driven YOUR CAR before.” I talk more about this concept in my own blog: http://tinyurl.com/5qfbwt
Change is hard – I get that. Change takes effort – I get that, too. Sometimes, we all need to be FORCED to change; that’s where leadership MANDATING certain levels of training is helpful. Districts wouldn’t hire teachers who couldn’t – or who refused to – read or write. Why do they hire teachers who can’t – or WON’T – use technological tools?
Oh, I love this discussion! I am in my 31st year of teaching and I love technology and try to use it as much as possible in my classroom. Interestingly, I have found that many of the younger teachers are no more tech savvy than some of us veterans. However, the use of tech at our school often leaves me frustrated beyond belief.
For example, I teach in two classrooms. One of those rooms has no working computer at all. To do my attendance on the computer as we are supposed to do requires that I leave the students unattended which is completely unacceptable even if (maybe especially if) some of those students are eighteen years old.
Ten years ago I had four working computers between the two rooms and was able to have students work on a number of research projects. As that equipment became outdated or nonfunctional, our school has not been able to afford to keep replacing it. To the credit of the community, a levy has recently passed and supposedly we will have much better equipment in about three years. However at this time I have no access to a color printer and have access only to a printer that was purchased in 1995 and shows its years of use. Two years ago I finally got one new computer for my room but of course it has no dvd drive, no cd burner, etc. By edict of our administration, we are not to let any student be on the “teacher” computer in our room. This policy came about after some students were able to access some teacher files they were not supposed to see.
Our students initially all had e-mail accounts, but that overwhelmed our server and had to be stopped. Now a few select students have e-mail accounts if they are needed by a specific class only.
I now use powerpoint for just about everything, but I have to create the powerpoints on my home computer due to lack of clip art, etc. at school. For some of my classes I have to move the students to a different room to use powerpoint and sign out an old slow laptop computer from our school library to be able to show the powerpoint. My persistence has paid off in one area – I have my own projector. I don’t let a lot of other teachers know it – they might be jealous! I try to have students present their work in powerpoints, but many do not have the equipment at home to make them. We have two computer labs, but last year neither had enough working computers for an entire class. This fall they have been working very hard on getting the labs in better condition so I am optimistic that there will be at least a little improvement.
All popular blog sites: wordpress, blogspot, etc. are off limits and blocked by our “A-site” so forget using those at our school. In fact, about any website that would allow students to communicate with the outside world is blocked.
Am I making excuses for teachers? No. I firmly believe tech should be used as much as possible and I am frustrated with the members of our staff who refuse to even check their e-mail regularly. But the reality of my experience and my working day is that I rarely have time or the equipment to do the things with tech I would love to do.
@John @Deb
My father passed away in 1995, and with some of the inheritance I received, I bought a computer — and my friend, Kim, came over and helped me set it up.
We still laugh about what a life-changing afternoon that was…..my life changed almost overnight. I could not get enough, it all made sense, I became a sponge and learned and read and honestly became a “TechnoSpud” — a technological couch potato!
No one sat me down and ever said the importance of this tool — I didn’t go to school to learn what I know — I just spent time with my computer, read tutorials, visited websites, and taught myself. And when I knew enough just to be a bit smarter than those around me, I started to share. And worked myself into the Tech Coordinator position at my old job. And started to host projects, and speak at seminars, and listen listen listen and read read read from those who knew more.
But bottom line, it was my desire to do so. My job also was my joy!! And I am blessed.
But I cannot force someone to have the same feelings that I can. I can show the benefits, I can explain the ways things work, I can even be there when they need help………but I can’t force it…..or even enforce it. And I shouldn’t be the one to do so.
Lots to think about. And also realizing that I am in a small private school — not even seeing the bigger picture of how this affects an even larger environment such as what you deal with — both as an employee and also a parent.
Still thinking……appreciate your posts.
@Melanie
Thank you for taking the time to post. I had to laugh a bit since my friend and I had that same discussion last week about students and logons and “teacher computers.”
She complains that there is NO student computer in her classroom — yet she has a wireless laptop sitting on her desk. And IT has said “it is a Teacher computer only”.
Thank you for sharing to this discussion. I like reading the posts, the thoughts, and how we are working through this in a variety of ways.
Jen
And so, Jen, who are you focusing on? Are you continuing to reach out to those who don’t share the passion? Are you focusing more on the ones who are still at the starting line? We have to continue to do both, but we shouldn’t let the fact that some of our teachers (many? most?) aren’t ready for new stuff hold us back.
Melanie: it sounds like you’re in Ohio. The SchoolNet projects provided a lot of funding for educational technology in the mid-90′s, but very little thought was given to sustainability at either the state or local level. There are many schools that are in that boat with you. I’m not sure I have much encouragement to offer, except that you’re not alone.
Jen: I guess I’m not the only one facing the “teacher computer” issue!
About seven years ago my parents purchased their first computer and both are in their 70′s. At first my mother was especially frustrated with it and insisted she would have rather had a puppy. I just knew they would eventually come to love it and they did because they are naturally curious people. I think people who have a higher level of curiosity, like you must have Jen, are much quicker to grasp technology.
I think there is another factor at play here also. I still come across some teenagers and adults who are very afraid of messing up the expensive computer. They see computers as fragile and are afraid that the slightest little wrong click will turn the whole expensive thing to rubble. Over time as children grow up with computers as a common part of their lives I believe there will be fewer people out there with such fears.
John: Yes, I am in Ohio. I suppose there are many schools out there in worse shape than mine, but it is frustrating. We’ve had some great people working on technology in our school, but there is only so much you can do with old equipment.
As to my parents, last Sunday’s winds brought down a tree limb which took out their cable tv and internet. They were much more concerned about the loss of the internet than the television but at least they were spared the pain of watching the Browns game.
@Melanie
I do agree with you. I have many teachers I work with who will say they were afraid to do something because they were afraid they would “break” the computer. I remember, myself, MANY years ago having someone tell me — “be careful — you might break it” and at that time, the thought of replacing a $5000 computer was scary.
So they continue to live in the past excuses and knowledge which stops them from moving forward.
Thanks again for sharing.
Did you know John & Deb — they commented as well, are from OHIO too?
Hi Jen, John, Melanie, Debbie and JenW, this is has been a very interesting discussion and there is so much here to revisit and think about. Suffice to say that very similar issues apply in Australia where I am. I think there are two points I want to make. There should be an expectation that ALL teachers are familiar with and able to use online web2 tools and technology in general. What is important though is to ‘sell’ those tools and knowledge as opportunities to engage and enhance the teaching and learning that is going on in the classroom. It’s about saying ‘why’ we should learn this in the hope that the ‘how’ we do it then becomes more engaging and meaningful to teachers. And secondly I think much of this has to come from the leadership in schools. The teachers that we communicate with (if I may humbly include myself as part of this engaging group)are not the ones that have to be convinced. We are already doing it. Our influence though is limited. The people who come to hear you speak are likely already doing much with technology (I take your point though John and Jen that we do have people come to conferences who have never heard of, let alone used wikis etc.) And those teachers that need to be reached are those who don’t come to those conferences nor do they read blogs or partipate in the online educational community.
I would guess that 95% of teachers at my school don’t know that I keep a blog and the only reason they know about wikis is because it was mandated that they create one to share with colleagues in their performance and development process. My job in my school is as an eLearning coach and I wonder on a daily basis what change and influence I am having. There is still a great dependence on me to make things happen. So I think that the leadership in our schools has to ask the question “how and why are you using technology in your classroom practice?” and not take “I’m not doing anything or I don’t know how” for an answer.
Hello Jen, Debbie, John, & Anne: I so agree with the idea of “selling” teachers on tech rather than just adding it as another thing that we are told must be done. Technology just for the sake of technology doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. The idea of using tech to solve a problem that a teacher is having or to enhance something that is being taught is, I think, an effective way to increase tech use. As John said, it is not a fast way, but it generates enthusiasm and that excitement and enthusiasm will be contagious to other staff members and especially students.
Jen: I did know that Debbie was in Ohio. One of my hobbies is scrapbooking and I found her blog this summer when I was searching for blogs about Creative Memories digital scrapbooking. I’ve enjoyed reading her blog and photo blog since then and saw the reference to this discussion on her twitter Saturday. I read a little of your blog yesterday and am looking forward to reading more as time allows.
Melanie – Yes, the tech situation in my 2nd graders’ elementary classroom is pathetic, to put it mildly. There are a couple old dinosaurs in the room which are mostly used for the kids to play games during “center time” because they have no internet access or are barely functional for other applications. (Of course, the over-crowding with 30 kids in the 2nd grade classrooms poses an entirely different set of challenges.) The few teachers in our school who are trying to do something productive with technology are frustrated by the seriously outdated equipment and chronic under-staffing of the tech maintenance staff. This situation is just indicative of the dismissive way in which technology is viewed in the educational system as a whole.
After reading you post and all the comments I felt like my head was going to explode. I consider myself lucky. I have 8 computers in my classroom (we use the 2 teacher stations with kids if needed) we have a projector, Airliner and DVD player. We have cameras, video cameras, drawing pads. I am blessed to be able to get the CIPA guy to unblock most of the “blocked” sites we want to use. We are lucky, nestled in our own little world…and our kids are lucky. I’m great and merrily content if I stay in my own 4 walls.
I spent almost 10 years presenting, 5 years at NECC. If I do say so myself, I was (and am)a great presenter–but one day about 4 years ago I said “no more”. I couldn’t stand the frustration of getting no where–I was so excited but didn’t feel I was making any headway. So, I quit presenting. I’m living out my teaching life (only a few years left) helping a few interested parties and my kids. That’ll have to do as my legacy. You can see all the stuff we’ve done, if interested here http://anotsodifferentplace.blogspot.com
/2007/07/where-is-all-your-stuff.html
Our district has done a brilliant job of supplying the hardware, that’s the easy part but the big reason that tech is going nowhere in my district (especially at the K-6 level) is scripted reading/math programs that are preparing (?) kids for state assessments. It’s sick. N.
oops, total link
http://anotsodifferentplace.blogspot.com
/2007/07/where-is-all-your-stuff.html
They have to want it. I don’t think we are doing the same thing as swimming at all. Why did the questioner wait until the end? Someone who wants it asks immediately. If the adults don’t want it, then focus on those who do = the kids
I find your article very interesting Jen and the comments from Debbie, John and Melanie, Anne and Nancy all bring up relevant points. Having been an IT Coordinator at a school for the past 10 years I can relate to the many sides of this issue.
First and foremost you have to have Admin on side and fully supportive. Directives have to come from the top and if the Boss says there has to be an electronic component to every child’s portfolio then you can bet teachers will be looking for something they can do. Then, if the same Boss ups the anti each portfolio/semester/year then those same teachers will have to up the anti too.
Secondly, you have to support teachers by giving them extra time (present day teaching and accountability requires amazing amounts of time), mentoring and challenges. Our school allocated technology induction days when new staff began and provided relief teachers to take classes. We also ran Cybercafes after school on basics – some of which were made compulsory by the Principal. Once they realise that “computering” doesn’t have to be another subject and actually makes teaching easier for them and more interesting for their students then they tend to take more on board.
Thirdly, share, share, share.
Of course you need reliable technology (I am so glad I am not in an Ohio school!). But just throwing a heap of computers in a school with little or no support just doesn’t work.
Then the is the setting up of minimum standards for staff to be employed/continue working at the school. I had a really intense discussion with my Principal on the relevance of great teaching skills without technology.
Lastly, there will always be some who cannot or will not adapt. They will not survive.
Thanks jen – a terrific topic and so relevant.
Debbie: 30 students in a second grade classroom is just plain too many! I can only imagine your frustration. There is proably not a lot a teacher can do under those circumstances – overcrowding and poor equipment. Your children will get the technical exposure at home, but a lot of kids won’t. Are classes that full at the other grade level?
[...] and posts over the weekend but several jumped out and are worth consideration or review. First up, this thoughtful entry by Jennifer Wagner about another digital divide — this one between the teachers who get technology and those who [...]
Melanie: Nope – these two 2nd grade classes are the largest in the district. They shuffled some students around last week (some parents opted to send kids to another school in our district that has only 20 kids per room), so we are “down” to 28 and 29 kids per class respectively. It’s still not enough, but I don’t want to send her to a different school since this elementary consistently ranks as the best in the district.