Reflections on Technology Facilitator Standard I: Technology Operations and Concepts

Standard 1 is something that is something that directly impacts me on a daily basis in Information Technology, if teachers don’t know how to use the technology or are scared to try it, they generally will not use it. Most of the information that is contained within the first chapter of our text I am was aware of before reading, but it did address issues such as how to combat the problems that teachers face and empower them to use new technologies. Amazingly much of what was suggested is relatively easy and could be easily implemented. A few weeks ago I came across a flow chart on a website and thought that it seemed relevant to what I do, and what teachers can try to do when they are unsure about something that happens on their computer.

(http://xkcd.com/627/, n.d.)

This standard was very important to me about a year ago when we were in the process of implementing 1 to 1 at the high school campus. I was involved in the deployment and setup of the servers and laptops, so I had to ensure that items such as our internal blog and wiki server were setup correctly and that the teachers knew how to access these tools. What I did was to create a handout that gave the teachers instructions on how to access the sites and a general FAQ, frequently asked question, sheet for the teachers. This was immensely helpful in enabling the teachers to use the tool that we setup for them so that they could effectively use this in the classroom. My general approach to this was to ensure that a stable infrastructure was in place, and then ensure that I had easy to understand instructions for the teachers so that they could use the blog and wiki. Assessing my performance on this task was relatively simple since I am able to see how much the blog and wiki servers are used by the teachers and students without me having to personally guide them through the process. The only real interaction with colleagues was with the technology director when we discussed the uses and setup of the servers initially. I wanted to ensure that the tools and options were in place so that the teachers could use the blogs, such as allowing the students to subscribe to a blog through iTunes.

The primary thing that I took away from this standard is how easy it can be to have a large impact on the daily lives of teachers and staff. With relatively little time and effort someone who is technologically inclined can help teachers to feel more at ease with the technology that is in their classroom so that they can utilize the tools that are available to them. The interactions that I had with colleagues during this process will greatly impact my future implementation of this standard in that I now know how easy it is to help the teachers and the knowledge that individuals such as the technology director are great resources that I can use to create training for the teachers. One of the questions that I am left with after reviewing this standard is with the dwindling budgets of schools, how will the schools be able to keep up to date with the current technology trends that are happening in the world.

(n.d.). Retrieved February 24, 2011, from http://xkcd.com/627/