NEIT2011+OpenSpace2+B


 * Tech is Useless! (how to encourage the doubters to jump in)**
 * Sean Dagony-Clark**
 * Riverdale Country School**
 * sdc@riverdale.edu**

Little steps in are most important - once they start to buy in, then it gets easier

Have Faculty share out what they are doing

ways for faculty to share? not in a meeting?

weekly bulletins - “technology spotlight” - use the helpdesk requests to determine what to post -- what do people need help with now?

“tech champions”

lunch sessions - private dining room w/ projection

is the tech useless because the tech isn’t relevant/usable to the teacher? - e.g. iPad as the first truly usable consumer technology

find ways to augment the current teaching, not disrupt it

10 / 80 / 10 (early adopters / late adopters / laggards) - don’t spend the majority of your time on the laggards

“technology second, curriculum first” - make it your mantra

change the conversation - ask what they’re doing, not what tech they’re using - then match the tech to the issues people are having

tech PD day - do it on curriculum, but model the use of the tech - e.g. goal of session: incorporate tech into their own lessons -- showed video of 3D printer, then had teachers plan a lesson that would start with this video as a segue - then group conversation about how to use the technology in ways that might not be obvious - video served as vehicle for later engagement

help the teachers understand that the tech isn’t taking time away from their curriculum, but rather supporting their curriculum & what they do

start with NON-tech-savvy user, have that person present to the faculty - more approachable because it’s a regular guy doing it

when you find a great new tool, sell just one feature -- not all 17! - once the people get that feature, they will grow into the others

consider taking away the analog solution, leave just the digital one - e.g. (at farm boarding school) help desk online - had to shred the paper helpdesk forms

can we force people to use tech? People teach what they were taught - there will be a lag between where the world is at and how teachers teach in the classroom

make the change easy - e.g. math dept using tablets, setting up website, then asking dept members to adapt

you can’t force people to use tech, but you can help those high up in the school create policies that require use

great teaching can exist without technology - but must ask the question: how well is the teaching serving the students? -- teacher’s job: make the students love learning --- great teachers can use technology badly or well

you always have an easier sell if it ties into the daily life of the school

what about bottom up approaches? - using tech-savvy students to help teach the teachers?