Tech Lag

It has always been obvious that a massive chasm exists between technology innovation and the average user's knowledge.  From phones to computers, most users are aware of 1/10th of a given gadget's capability.  This same phenomenon is rampent in the education world.   Every time I am involved in professional development, I am surprised to see people who don't know the basics of general computer literacy and troubleshooting.  Even technology people work too hard and spend too much in counterproductive ways.  To be fair, many teachers are too busy learning their content, pedagogy, professional requirements, building requirements, coaching obligations, not to mention trying to balance a personal life to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of educational technology.  Edtech moves so fast its hard for technology people to keep up, make good decisions about what to commit to.

However, there are countless web tools and gadgets to make their life easier for everyone.  The question is how can we professionally develop teachers in a way that is efficient, meets their needs, doesn't overwhelm, and is cost effective?  I don't think there is a silver bullet that can span all school districts systematically.  Just like our students, each school corporation, each building requires a unique plan of professional development.  However I think there are a few things like Google Reader that make learning easy and fast, but that is another post.

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All too often teachers are given some technology, such as a SMART Board with very little training, so the technology actually ends up more frustrating than their older paper and pencil methods.  This is an example of the problem with efficiency and bad tech decisions.  "SMART" Boards can cost from $4,000 to $8,000 or more if you get all the bells and whistles.  However, for the way most teachers use SMART Boards the same technology is FREE online--all you need is a $300 dollar projector, a wireless mouse, and a bed sheet to project on--I can guarantee it will work more often too.

Technology in and of itself is not the answer for education--that is not what I am saying.  It is a tool... actually it is a massive warehouse full of millions of tools and if we don't let teachers in the warehouse and give them a guided tour, they are going to walk the other way.  This is going to have negative effects on their classroom and school corporation as a whole.  Education is moving quickly into technology, we have to equip or teachers with the tools and support they need to embrace this movement, not fear it.