Technology Committee

In anticipating difficulty with my Aspire team discussions I need to be thinking about the fact that some staff members may not yet be prepared to accept personal devices into their classrooms. Though I think the difficulty won’t be in convincing the committee but rather the wider body of teachers.  Some reasons why teachers may not accept personal devices: they may not feel convinced that students will use devices in a responsible manner, some may be concerned that not all students have a device, and some may feel like they have to integrate personal devices into their instruction. I think that I will need to have lots of small conversations with teachers before bringing this large discussion forward.  Because the aspire technology team hasn’t met yet I think that my first challenge will be to convince them that it is important that we meet. I know that our school has two seats on a District technology committee and I could use it as a reason to meet initially.  Once we are together to elect representatives to the District committee I could propose that we work on a vision for technology in the school.  I think that proposing a discussion about BYOD and inquiring about bigger district level policies would come after the initial committee is gathering momentum.

Order of approach:

-Argue that there is a need for the technology team to meet.

-Work on coming to a concensus regarding a vision statement.

-Use the vision statement to bring forward a conversation about BYOD.

• school wide strategy for teaching etiquette and cyber safety.
• professional development for those looking to teach with personal devices in their classroom.
• determine school wide protocol and procedure for students who choose not to use their personal devices appropriately.

Administration

I also need to anticipate a possible difference of opinion with my administrators.  With having two new administrators I have to be prepared for the fact that they may choose to approach technology differently in the school.  While our previous administrator was working hard to get our focus teams up and running, of which the technology committee was one of, the new administration may have a different vision for making technology decisions in the school.  I also have to be prepared for the fact that the new administration may see personal devices in the classroom as too difficult to manage.  I do think that it would be a big shift for the school to welcome personal devices into the classroom and administration need to be on board with the decision for it to work.  I also foresee that they will want a clear policy developed as to why and when a device would be confiscated and where it would be stored if it was.

Myself

The last big obstacle that I can foresee is myself.  I know that in order to bring forward these policy adaptations regarding technology in the school, I need to be active in seeking out conversations with both administration and colleagues.  This type of communication where I seek out individuals to change their minds is a challenge for me.  I tend to be someone that will respond to topics when I am asked about them, as opposed to bringing them forward myself.  I think that I often fear being judged professionally, looking silly, and certainly I fear having my ideas dismissed or put down.  In order to combat this I know that I will need to have lots of arguments to back up my reasons for why we need to decide on a BYOD policy. I also need to be prepared to have my ideas put down initially, and that I might need to stick with it for awhile, it may take some time to shine light on the importance of the topic. Ultimately I need to keep in mind how the policy decisions affect student learning and development positively and to present my arguments in this light.