Today I participated in a meeting designed to brainstorm some ideas for infusing technology into a unit of instruction for social studies teachers at various levels from elementary through high school. Overall, I felt the day was very productive and our group is going to piece together a very fun culminating activity for the unit.
That, however, is not the focus of this post. I wanted to share what was, from my perspective, a horror story that some fellow educators are living with on a daily basis.
I had an opportunity to engage in conversations about learning and technology with two teachers from a different school district. The discussion was disheartening to say the least. The teachers indicated their disgust at being under such stringent controls that they cannot even make purchases with their own money to try and enhance the environment for the students. They have only one computer in the room which is used for e-mails, grading, attendance, and a few other mundane activities. They have been waiting for a long time to receive some technology that was supposed to have been purchased long ago.
Here we have some teachers that are willing and eager to begin using some technology in their classrooms but the district seems to be uncooperative from their point of view. As a technology specialist myself, I reflected and shared some of my philosophy about technology integration, and was genuinely sad for these teachers. I truly wish that I was able to do more for them but it is really out of my hands.
It seems to me that many of these types of lockdown situations are a knee-jerk reaction to something that happened in the past which perhaps caused the district a little more grief than they wanted or possibly a fear of such a situation in the future - maybe even a little of both.
The reality is that if we, as educators, are going to be expected to train today's youth for their future, then we ought to have all the necessary tools we need in order to make that goal a reality. Certainly, out of respect, I would expect at least a reasonable amount of support.
Do any of you have a story about your districts not allowing access to powerful, relevant, and engaging technology tools for the classroom? Does anyone have a success story of how they overcame such a situation? I look forward to your stories.