It was not long ago when all the teachers returned back to preschool week after a relaxing summer only to find out we all had Interactive White Boards installed in our classrooms. “Huh?” “Yay!” “Wait, a what?” “I can’t wait to use it, I have read and heard so much great things about using them in the classroom” “Is anyone going to answer my question?” “Yes!! New toys.” “Don’t we already have whiteboard in our classrooms?” As you can imagine, not all of us knew exactly what an interactive whiteboard was. No one was asked to demonstrate how to use one. No one was asked if they could share their thoughts or their experience using interactive whiteboards in the past. No one was asked anything about this new gadget. We were all just told they were in our rooms, the box that came with the remote control and whatever other tools we needed would also be in our classrooms on our desks and finally every teacher is expected to comply and be sure to use these whiteboards while teaching. “Great, I assume we will be trained on these new gadgets this week as one of our many other pointless PD’s we are forced to sit through” is what I thought. Imagine my disappointment when this Professional Development never came.
I find that one of the biggest issues of technology in education is hands down, lack of professional development, well, at least for me it is. Growing up, my parents didn’t have much and when my mom found a dinosaur of a computer at a yard sale one Saturday morning and brought it home it sat there for MONTHS without use since we didn’t have any internet at home to even use the thing. My siblings and I would use those AOL cd’s for free dial up internet but we only had access to AOL chatrooms with our friends. I say this to show that during those times, I was not previewed to technology as much as this current generation was so I was never really tech savvy. Of course throughout the years with more use of computers at school (google searches and Microsoft Word), I learned more on how to use computers but I still was no expert. Of course if someone showed me how to do something I was able to in time, do it on my own, there were things I figured out little by little too but I have always learned best from example. If I see you do it, I can do it too! How was I supposed to use this interactive whiteboard if no one was going to teach me how to use it? How am I to incorporate this gadget into my classroom lessons if I am not properly trained on how to use it? We already have so many PD’s on pointless things sometimes but at that moment I wished so badly for someone, anyone to conduct a PD on this topic so I am not found not using it during a walkthrough. I was completely stressed out the beginning of my second year teaching. “Professional development has to be relevant to teachers, contain numerous choices, and be hands-on. More often than not, this can be done with teacher leaders present in all buildings” (Sheninger, Eric 2014). Even if the district didn’t offer professional developments on how to use an interactive whiteboard in the classroom, this was the perfect time to bring out those teacher leaders who have experience to share. Those who were so excited about this new gadget because they had used them before and swore by it could’ve been of great use to staff members who knew nothing of it! Teachers need training to use technology effectively. Professional development is critical. The choice of medium will depend greatly upon the number of learners reached over the life of a course. (Garland, Tadeja 2013).
Effective School leaders cannot expect a positive outcome or a change in student achievement without the proper steps in rolling out something new with technology. Yes, technology can change a lot within a school in regards to student achievement, but, without the proper trainings, the vision will never get done.
Sources
https://thejournal.com/articles/2013/06/04/6-technology-challenges-facing-education.aspx
Sheninger, Eric C. (2014-01-14). Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times (p. 59)
Garland, Virginia E.; Chester Tadeja (2013-01-04). Educational Leadership and Technology: Preparing School Administrators for a Digital Age (p. 993).