Effective Ways to get Teachers to Use Technology

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Permalink Reply by Tanya Travis on December 31, 2008 at 1:50pm

The most effective strategy I use is to have students present work they have completed using technology. Teachers have responded with a lot more enthusiasm towards tech when they see how excited students are and the quality of work students present. One presentation of digital books created by students led to the creation of a school digital library where both students and teachers contribute.

I am a classroom teacher and the technology infusion teacher at my school. Presenting technology from both the student and teacher prospective has made the use of technology seem more friendly and usable to even the most resistant of my teachers.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Baird on December 31, 2008 at 3:58pm

Whatever you present, have an assignment for the teachers to use one of the items in the next month (or an appropriate time) and to report back to you on how it went. You could also have them write down their intentions on paper so they are committed to it. I'm not the tech coordinator in our school but I did lead the professional development team for years. We discovered that if we didn't give teachers an assignment to use the material we presented, they wouldn't. I'm sure most schools have faculty members that react the same way.

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Permalink Reply by Eve Heaton on January 1, 2009 at 4:55am

Our technology coach had done this with us but her timing was a bit off and there was a little uprising (we had science fair, grades and reports due at the same time) . With all the things on our plate as teachers we simply did not have the time to do the assignments she wanted us to. She would send us a reminder that the assignment was due and we would all look at each other and you could tell that we hadn't even started. She took a few steps back after we spoke up and asked us what we had coming up and put together a demonstration of how what she was teaching us could be used for that next unit.

I like the idea of presenting student work using technology...I am definitely a visual person and seeing the end result of something would be more motivating to me then just hearing about it.

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Permalink Reply by Jim Burke on December 31, 2008 at 7:04pm

Some brainstorming done on Learning in Maine called "50 Ways to Encourage the Use of Technology by Learners": http://learninginmaine.blogspot.com/2008/07/revisiting-50-ways-to-e...

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Permalink Reply by Kev on January 1, 2009 at 8:06am

The best way to encourage teachers to use technology is to hire new teachers.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Mitrowski on January 1, 2009 at 8:55am

I don't want to pile on and condemn all senior teachers but the digital immigrants are certainly slow to adopt technology. I am on our tech committee and at least half of the members don't use the available technology(why are they on the committee? No idea.). I have actually heard them say they don't have the time to log onto a computer and check e-mail. My question is always what the heck are you doing all day? With that said, getting teachers to use technology should be easier if they can see some results. Show successful class projects such as powerpoints, podcasts, blogs, etc. Parents also love the idea that their kids are using technology and parents can be a great motivator. Parents can also come to the classroom and help if the teacher fells overwhelmed by technology.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Anderson on January 1, 2009 at 10:52am

I think in some way, you answered your question. People who don't use technology (or don't use it effectively), never have time to use it. Once a person starts using technology effectively, they should soon find that they have more time to use technology (or do other things). Most of our teachers love the online grade books that they are forced to use, but there are some that complain about all the "extra work" that it forces them to do. Of course most of these are the same people who insist on still using their little red grade books *LOL* .

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Permalink Reply by indigo196 on January 2, 2009 at 6:11am

This is just incorrect if you are implying age is a factor. Age has nothing to do with it; desire does, need does and seeing a benefit does. To give you a good example I assisted an 82 year old man install Ubuntu (GNU\Linux) on his computer and he was with his 75 year old friend. They had a desire to learn new things in regards to technology. At the same time I have seen student teachers afraid of using a mouse.

If you are saying you are more likely to find new teachers who are willing to use technology I would say that is a common observation, but one that is not 'on target' enough to be used as a guideline for increasing technology adoption.

The process IMHO is simple:

• Find a need (something that can not be done w/o technology or something that can be done more efficiently or effectively with technology) that one of your more 'social' teachers has.
• Find some software or technology that meets that need (best to have more than one piece of software)
• Work with the software (technology) yourself and develop a working familiarity with it
• Have the IT department look at the software to ensure that there are no technical issues with it that you may have missed
• Develop a plan including software (technology) evaluation, software use scenarios and expected outcomes (w/ student impact or time saved detailed)
• Present the plan to the teacher
• Work with the teacher to implement the software (technology) until the benefits are realized.

If the teacher 'likes' the software (technology) and found it effective (remember: you set the goals) they will like advocate for it and you will be busy assisting others adopt the same software (technology) until there is a sufficient number that peer support takes over.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on January 2, 2009 at 1:55pm

I agree with Indigo, it doesn't have to do with age at all. I've seen some young first year teachers who you would think would be all "facebooky" or "iPoddy" and they don't have a clue how to integrate technology in the classroom. I think the tools and training should go to the people who will use it and forget the rest. It would save thousands of tech trainers a bunch of headaches!! (kidding only a bit)

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Permalink Reply by Larry Blodgett on May 14, 2009 at 12:04pm

sad but...true

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Permalink Reply by Michael Fisher on January 1, 2009 at 11:37am

I just guest blogged about the one thing teachers need to know about teaching with technology on Clif Mim's blog, if you're interested: http://www.myplick.com/view/a11S3OtLW_h/JustOneThing

Also, I have lots of content collected at http://allmywikis.wikispaces.com Some is workshop specific and could be used by any staff developer to turnkey a workshop. Email me if I can help you further! ( mfisher@e1b.org )

-Mike Fisher

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Permalink Reply by Eve Heaton on January 1, 2009 at 2:32pm

Loved your "Just One Thing" slideshow. Passed it on to another teacher.

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