Technology training is a must at any level within the educational arena. Often, teachers’ gradebooks, lesson plans, and attendance are managed online. Most of our research today is completed online. Documents and spreadsheets are created on the computer to track student progress. Teachers communicate with a variety of stakeholders through email, class webpages, and blogs. Even our traditional search tools within the media center are now online. Up-to-date, ongoing technology training is absolutely essential for all members of the educational field—in and out of the traditional classroom.
Knowing that training is essential, I have to wonder who should be responsible for this training. Technology training is really all over the place in my school district. Our computer lab managers (LST—Local School Technologist) and our media specialists are not usually the ones to deliver any of our technology training. In fact, I am the person at my school who manages our school webpage and has delivered all the training to our teachers on the design and maintenance of their webpages. I’m just a regular education classroom teacher, so how did I get that job? I guess I was chosen because I have an interest in technology. And that’s all well and good, but I have to wonder if there shouldn’t be a specific chain of command—so to speak—for training teachers on the various aspects of technology within our buildings. I enjoy working with the teachers to help them get started, but I have my own classroom to attend to. I can’t always address issues when teachers need me, and of course, our planning times are all different.
Some teachers, especially many of the veteran teachers I’ve worked with, are terrified of the many new (and some old) forms of technology available within the school setting. I would like to see my school district put a designated team in place for properly training trainers within each school. For example: The LSTs will train teachers on all Microsoft products, gradebook, attendance, lesson planners, and any educational software to be utilized. The media specialists will train teachers on use of OPAC, webpage design, any aspects of Web 2.0, and research. If teachers know who to go to get information and receive training, they are more likely to take advantage of the technologies that are available.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteSince we teach in the same county, I would have to say that I totally agree with you! Our media specialist handles most of the technology issues at our school, but I would have to say that there is a lot she is not familiar with and therefore is unable to assist teachers with. I feel that if someone is put in charge of something, they should have the necessary training to do the job properly. When I first started teaching three years ago, I was given no training on the online grade book that we use. I was also not trained on the attendance program that we used at the time. I had to go to the teacher across the hall on the first day of school for help. It was in my favor that I am very comfortable with technology and catch on quickly with things like that, but I know that is not the case for some teachers.
I agree that the county should have a chain of command that is responsible for training teachers on technology. If we are spending money on different resources that are to help support our students, we should receive the proper training to utilize those resources fully. I think that there should be one person in each school that has received extensive training on all the different technologies in the school who will then be able to help everyone else!
Your plan sounds very reasonable. Good for you for accepting the challenge of teaching technology. I can definitely see how your expretise would be called on often and at times that would interfere with your own schedule.
ReplyDeleteYou present a good overview of how educators use technology and why training is so important.
I have been in your shoes for more years than I would like to admit. As a teacher that is interested in technology, we often get those responsibilities thrown at us. I am now the media specialist, but I am still expected to do all of the technology training. We attempted to put together a technology team several years ago, that would be responsible for training the faculty and staff. We ran in to several problems with this. It was difficult finding people that would take on this responsibility in addition to their classroom duties. Once we had a trained team in place, several of those people were moved to different schools. This was very frustrating. Now, all technology training is left to our media specialist, me, or the occasional training from our central office.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWe all agree that it is absolutely essential for teachers to gladly accept technology training. I think that it is extremely important for every teacher to be responsible to keep themselves abreast of the new technologies available. However, I do understand that many teachers do not have the resources or the time to devote themselves to the study of these new technologies. As my classmates have written, good for you for taking the responsibility of teaching technology to your fellow teachers. I agree with your idea of a chain of command for teaching technology might be about a more reasonable and effective mode for training.
ReplyDeleteAt my own school we have one person specifically responsible for the technology aspects of our school (because we are title 1 and a magnet school). However, I do not think that technology training lies under her job description, which leads me to wonder if anyone actually does. If no one does, should someone? With technology being extremely prevalent and necessary in the classroom, wouldn't adequate and responsible technology training be essential in every school?
Once again your chain of command idea would help to assist in this responsible technology training without having to place a designated person at each school. Good thoughts!
I agree that there should be a local team to address the technology training needs of teachers and staff at a school. My district does have a technology team that will provide training for teachers on software and hardware provided by the district. The only problem with this is that they offer workshops offsite after school and it may take awhile (maybe weeks) to schedule a training at the school.
ReplyDeleteTo somewhat remedy this problem, our school is working on putting together a functional technology committee. The committee is comprised of teachers who love technology. Our goal is to provide our co-workers with assistance in technology. We also want to introduce them to the many technological resources available online and from the system. We want to send a representative to the workshops offered by the district and come back to our school and set up mini workshops for other teachers who are having problems. We also have designated times for teachers to come to us for help with electronic paperwork, electronic portfolios, and anything else related to technology that we are mandated to complete or use by the school.
The staff at our school has appreciated our committee because we have helped them get better acquainted with some of the technology introduced to our school this year. They don't have to wait for the technology department to send someone to train us on things...we train ourselves.
I agree that a chain of command would be very helpful. If no one is sure who should be training staff on specific tools, or even what tools are available, then staff members cannot make the most of applications of which they have limited or no knowledge. In the case of teaching/learning tools, this can also be a disadvantage to students. Even if teachers are called upon to share knowledge gained, they should first receive training themselves, so that they are confident in what they know and can comfortably share it with others. Programs such as those used for grades and attendance definitely require training from a knowledgeable user, because errors could cause serious complications and much frustrations not only for the teacher, but also the person in charge of maintaining these at the school or district level. If technology training duties are specifically assigned to staff members as you described, new teachers or those with questions will know who to consult to get answers.
ReplyDelete