Crushing Barriers

In my previous post I outlined four problems with infusing technology into my classroom and it felt good to unpack what really irks me about technology in the classroom.  I know that the positives far outweigh the negative barriers, I know that everything in life comes with barriers and obstacles, I know Johnny will remember his password one day, but a good vent session always seems to lighten the load a little bit.  

So enough complaining, time to put on our big teacher pants and get to the hard work of changing lives for the better with any tool possible including infusing technology.  Teaching has always been equally challenging and rewarding, and no matter what the subject or level of accessible technology there will always be obstacles to learning and they must be overcome.  Let's get busy crushing barriers...

Barrier #1: Teaching students to use the technology or web-app

Crushing this barrier has a one central piece, preparation.  The teacher must be prepared to use the technology or web-app.  The teacher must know how to use the app, how to create accounts if needed, and look for any possible glitches that might arise.  The teacher must know which browser will run the web-app the best, if the final product can be saved or downloaded, and how the students will submit their final product.  The teacher will save valuable instruction time by being prepared.

Barrier #2: Redesigning lessons for technology

We will crush this barrier in two ways, good planning and keeping our eyes on the long term goal.  For the planning piece, a teacher must be purposeful and thoughtful about infusing technology into their lesson plans.  Personally, I am working on infusing technology into three lessons per grading period this year, and next year I will do another three lessons per grading period.  

Which brings me to the second part of crushing this barrier, the long term goal.  By building these infused lessons in a few steps at a time, I should be completely flipped and infused in four years.  And considering I have 25ish years of teaching left in me, four years seems like a good investment.

Barriers #3 & #4: Internet Speed / Accessibility & Tech Failures

These two barriers are tougher to crush because all that hard work and preparation seems to dissolve in a matter of seconds of technological down time.  

First of all, don't freak out when technology doesn't respond accordingly.  Being flexible has been a required attribute for teaching long before infusing technology became a focus of the trade, and I hear many teachers who are apprehensive about technology in the classroom using this as their primary excuse for not getting on board.  Meanwhile the copier breaks down and they deftly swap lesson plans, the DVD player in their room goes on the fritz and they begin the lecture for the following day.  As teachers we maneuver pot holes and hazards all the time, quit using it as an excuse for not infusing technology.  

Second, plan for the breakdown.  All of my technology infused lessons have an exit strategy if everything starts to break down.  When the wheels start to fall off, I give myself two minutes to troubleshoot the technical issue.  If I can resolve it, we proceed as planned; if a resolution can not be reached, I shut it down for that class period and work my back up plan.