-tictech message:
> Dear Folks,
>
> Some thoughts on technology integration over the past few years at Hale.
People are invited to offer their own experiences. Apologies in advance for
the length of the post.
>
> Several years ago when I first started working with our staff as
Technology Coordinator, I was excited to show teachers how technology could
be used with their teaching and assist them in integrating it with their
curriculum. My efforts met with mixed success. Clearly, the excitement was
not shared by all. I was not alone in this frustration, however. One could
find many other accounts of limited success by technology leaders. Those
accounts often went like this: "I've shown our staff the tremendous
advantages of using technology and have given specific examples of how it
can be used, but the staff just didn't 'get it' or were not interested. I
don't understand why they aren't more motivated to adopt technology with
their teaching".
>
> If the teachers had been clearly shown the advantages of using technology,
why were they not more motivated to implement it? Frequently when reasons
were given, they were two-fold: teachers were uncomfortable with the
unfamiliar and complicated aspects of technology, and they were far too
pressed for time attempting to accomplish all the other work they had to do.
In this context, technology was just one more thing to do which they could
not afford to spend time on.
>
> Early on, I saw a significant part of my job as an attempt to "lighten the
technology load" for teachers. After showing staff the advantages of
technology and providing access to resources, I offered instruction in
technology use, and support during implementation. Unfortunately, my time
to help the willing was limited, and since many people were still resistant
to explore technology options, I decided to focus my efforts on those who
were interested, and not worry too much about those who were not. I
reasoned that in another few years, more technologically literate teachers
would fill the ranks of our staff and create a "critical mass" which would
push our technology utilization to a higher level. This proved to be very
much the case.
>
> In the category of "be careful what you wish for", we now have such an
extent of technology integration at Nathan Hale, that our technology
personnel are often running behind staff, trying to keep up with support
issues. Frequently these are related to huge projects which staff have
implemented on their own as part of their integrated curriculum.
>
> Technology use at Hale is becoming so common and is so integrated into
what many of our staff do, that it becomes difficult to address as an
isolated topic of discussion. People can review a few of our recent
technology-infused activities at hale here:
>
> http://hale.ssd.k12.wa.us/tech_proj/projects.htm
>
> This year, we have three technology-infused activities which involve all
students in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades. The Mural Project involves 10th
grade students producing 9 murals related to civil rights and documenting
their work with iMovie, Power Point presentations, and a website. The Video
Quilt, produced by the 11th grade, is a series of videos dealing with human
rights issues. Senior Projects are a requirement for graduation and each
must contain a technology component. The projects are frequently presented
with Power Point and iMovie and this year were documented with video as
well. In years past, students often held up cardboard posters to illustrate
their work. On Senior Project Night, we had 20 projectors used
simultaneously for presentation of students' projects.
>
> In addition, members of our science and math departments regularly use
technology as part of their curriculum. [See projects section for a few
examples]. We also have some technology-specific courses related to radio,
television, Business/Tech-ed, and graphics, which add expertise,
inspiration, and equipment. There is interest in extending our integrated
curriculum to these courses.>
>
> Here are a few specific things, which I think have made a difference at
Hale over the years. I would rate the last four items as most important to
our recent success.
>
> * Early adoption of email and implementation of a building network (1993)
>
> * Technology Integration put directly into our Mission Statement
>
> * The staff bulletin put out on email instead of being delivered to rooms
(parents like receiving this too).
>
> * An Introduction to Technology course required for most students at Hale
>
> * Technology training offered during staff in-service days and after
school
>
> * A technology requirement added to senior projects
>
> ** Funding for a full-time Technology Coordinator. An informed Librarian
actively involved in technology support and instruction. Funding for a
UWIRED student. Extended building-level support from IS. Support from IT
during large projects and training.
>
> ** Better equipment acquired for our Open Lab, Library, and classrooms
>
> ** An integrated, project-oriented curriculum implemented for three of our
grade levels with extra planning time often employed for technology
instruction, and implementation
>
> ** Hiring of tech-savvy staff
>
> (Credit to Currie Morrison for a number of the above items)
>
> Our staff has clearly grasped the advantages of using the World Wide Web,
Power Point and Video with their curriculum. What we have yet to achieve in
my opinion, is the integration of web-page production with our teaching and
achievement of a higher level of technology literacy on the part of a number
of our staff. More tech support is needed at the workstation level at
Nathan Hale. When there is not enough technology support, Tech Coordinators
(and ETs) will get used for that instead of for curriculum integration:
fixing things that don't work always takes precedent over curriculum issues.
Also, some means to adhere to a reasonable replacement cycle for our
equipment will be essential for our continued use of technology.
>
> One final thought. Our staff, like many, is no longer as unfamiliar with
technology as in years past. But with the addition of many new demands on
teachers, the issue of time constraints is more pressing than ever for many.
Smaller class size and more preparation time, in addition to facilitating
student learning, could have implications for technology integration in the
classroom as well. Conversely, adoption of District initiatives, which
increase teachers> '> workloads, might be considered as a factor working
against technology integration.
>
> Tony Hand
> Technology Coordinator
> Nathan Hale High School
> Seattle Schools
>
> tghand@seattleschools.org
>
>
>
-end tictech message. To join, leave, or visit
the message archive, go to tictech on the Web:
http://www.earthdaybags.org/tictech/
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 19 2003 - 17:49:38 PDT