Once the computers arrive at the school, they are not ready for immediate use. Plugging them in does not mean that the school has now integrated technology effectively. I think George Perry and Ronald Areglado hit it right on the nose in their article entitled The Computers are Here! Now what Does the Principal Do? On page 87, they state, “the fact is that investments in equipment have not always been accompanied by changes in teaching. Each school’s experience with technology is different.” How true this is!! Just in our class discussions, we know that we each have had different experiences with technology and classroom instruction. Some experiences have been positives, while others have been frustrating. My experience in Prince William County Schools is completely different than my experience with technology in Fairfax County Schools. When I needed an alpha smart for one of my students it was unavailable to me in Prince William, where in Fairfax County I had my own class set.
Just having the computers in the school is not enough. The authors claim “principals should have three sources of instructional leadership available to their schools: (1) Importing leadership by selecting and deploying external experts; (2) leading institution by training and planning with teachers, and observing instruction regularly; and (3) organizing staff to provide leadership for one another” (p.91). I think that my experience at Triangle Elementary mirrors this goal. There was once a month planning sessions with the Principal and the Assistant Principal. Every two weeks, both principals would do what the called “walk throughs” and they would come in and observe the classroom and the instruction informally. Twice a year they would do a formal observation. Collaboration was expected not only among grade level teachers, but also with other grades and specialists. I felt that I had a lot of support from my peers, as well as from the administration.
I also agree with the point that Perry and Arglado make about having a common goal. Effective collaboration and technology integration starts before the computers arrive and lasts well after they have been plugged it. It is important for the school to have a common goal about technology and its use in and out of the classroom.
How interesting it was to read Zimmerman’s article, Building Public Support: The Politics of Technology Transformation. Right from the beginning of the article she says “ you need different strategies for different folks.” This really hit home to me. I differentiate my instruction and I accommodate for modifications all of the time. It only makes sense that we take what we know works in the classroom and transfer it to how teachers learn and differentiate the support they need to integrate technology effectively in their instruction. I am a visual and auditory learner. I do better when I can it and hear it being done. I struggled with the written directions on how to use a smart board. However, when I went to the training offered by the principal, then I understood how to use it and how to set it up for use in the classroom. I used the written directions as a reference. I think it is important to realize that not all teachers learn the same why and require different methods of support.
She takes collaboration further and challenges schools to collaborate with businesses, the community and the state government. This collaboration will provide the funding needed for technology integration in the schools. “Education school communities is essential to ensure a steady revenue stream for technology in the appropriate budget, in addition to whatever grants and gifts the schools receive” (p. 100). This echoes what is taking place currently with Virginia and the state budget to cut funding for technology. She claims that simple grassroots efforts are effective such as “keeping a list of the senators and representatives handy, with their email addresses and telephone numbers so they can be easily advised” (p.102). Dr. Coffman had us do contact our representative within the last week. Zimmerman’s article is very relevant to current issues. The timing for reading this article could not have been any better.
Perry, George S., Jr & Areglado, Ronald J. (2001) Computers are here! Now what does the Principal do? In John F. LeBaron & Catherine Collier, eds. Technology in its place. Jossey Bass. California: San Fransico. 87-98.
Zimmer, Isa Kaftal. (2001). Building public support: The politics of technology transformation. ? In John F. LeBaron & Catherine Collier, eds. Technology in its place. Jossey Bass. California: San Fransico. 87-98.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Sara, I enjoyed reading you summary on the two chapters. You did a good job tying in you teaching experiences with the summary. I was glad to hear that things have changed for the better at Triangle elementary. I student taught there in the fall 05, the school had a computer lab with a teacher but she was not much help with the computers or technology wise. The kindergarten class has three or four computers but they were never used while I was there. In the fifth grade there were three good working computer, which the teacher used for accelerated reader and accelerated math. I used a couple of PowerPoint presentations and interactive games while I was there. The kids really enjoyed it.
I believe that if principals have a plan for technology integration and leaders within the staff to help the rest of the staff, the process can be achieved. Just having the equipment and no plan to support the staff on how to use and integrate within the curriculum is worthless. I think that it will take time but we will eventually get there if teachers become more open to change.
I would agree that each schools experience with technology is different. It is this difference that we can learn from and explore. It would be nice if schools could communicate these differences with other schools. If this could happen, schools could learn good strategies for success.
How can schools get the technology that is required for each student’s success? Do you think if business leaders and parents were asked to help find solutions - change would take place? Information is power.
Providing information to the community such as - students need a certain piece of technology to be successful might help. It is a problem between counties in the same state - uses of and support for technology. As in your example, one county provides support for technology emphasizing it as important for student success and the other county does not. How can this change? How can we have each county provide the same support to our teachers and our students? Do you think that this would be an effective approach?
Yes, Virginia is trying to cut off funding for technology support personnel. It is a difficult process and a continued fight. Hopefully, we can continue to stay strong and fight for the future of our students and of our schools. Hopefully, one day, technology will be seen as a useful and necessary tool in our classrooms to help engage our students into the process of learning and to connect with our community and the world. Our readings will continue to support this message from every angle. Stay tuned.
I'm not sure how the state, local governments and educators can make sure that each county is using and has access to the same technology. That would require a lot of money and time. Perhaps some schools can do obersavtions in other schools to see how those schools use and integrate technology. Perhaps a mandate from the state with funding could help each school aquire a classroom set of different machines like smart boards or alpha smarts...
Post a Comment