Mobile technology at my school is neither banned, nor allowed, rather, it’s in a constant state of flux. Somedays we seem to make huge leaps in the use of mobile technology, while other days we seem to be more like Luddites. Here is a brief overview of the situation at my school and my analysis of the situation.
I won’t delve into censorship or political concerns as I briefly touched on these in a previous discussion post. It is not an exaggeration to say that rules are created, discarded, enforced and ignored at my school in a constant and dizzying cycle. A common phrase used to describe this cycle is: “This is China”, but I don’t think it can be explained by three empty words. The administrative structure, or chain of command, at my school is complicated and there are many cultural considerations at play that are not appropriate for me to speculate on because it’s not my culture. However, I can say that the structure allows many people to create rules and leaves others to enforce them. Communication is not always clear, so no one seems to know who created the rules or who is responsible for enforcing them. With that little bit of context, let me present you with some examples of mobile technology related “rules” from the past few years:
- Cell phone signal blockers installed in the student dormitories, blocking all cell phone signals (not just 3G/4G–EVERYTHING!)
- Removed after parents complained its adverse affect on student health.
- Certain classes given 1:1 laptops and wifi. Other classes not provided with laptops, no wifi access, and BYOD wa (and still is) forbidden.
- Parents’ committee suggested that students could bring cellphones to school, but they would be confiscated by their homeroom teachers during teaching hours (7:20am-10:00pm, Monday-Friday). The school accepted this suggestion and enacted it last year.
Are these rules strictly enforced? The short answer is no. This is a good thing, because it means there is room for negotation and change. Allow me to attempt to analyze the situation.
Our school is not short on mobile technology. We have a bank of 40 laptops that can be checked out for any teacher to use in class. Most students have a smartphone; a recent survey of grade 10 students revealed that only 11 students out of 379 do not have a smartphone. 3G and 4G access in Shenzhen is affordable (I pay 5 CAD a month for 300mb) and almost all students have access via their phones. Six classes have 1:1 laptops and wifi access. Sounds incredible, right? Wrong. We’re in mobile technology limbo. The following situation is typical of how the integration of technology is approached.
Our bank of laptops arrived a few months after two (Canadian) teachers attended a 21st Century Learning conference. The teachers came back full of ideas, armed with printouts of resources and countless links to educational websites which were informative and useful (that’s how we got started with Edmodo, which I loved.) The school, encouraged by the teachers’ enthusiasm, bought in to their suggestion to purchase a class set of laptops and they arrived in the blink of an eye. However, at the Canadian staff meeting where this idea was introduced, I, along with the other IT teacher, had advised against moving forward so quickly. Our issue was that there was no implementation plan. No one had considered what software would or should be purchased, how the laptops would be monitored (our IT labs have monitoring software), if the school’s network could support the increased bandwidth demand, or, even the most basic consideration—how would the laptops be used? Our concerns were pushed aside, deemed pessimistic and anti-technology. At the time, I was frustrated by being labeled anti-technology, but now I find it funny, considering our questions are some of the considerations found in Bates’ (2014) SECTIONS model.
After reading Ciampa’s (2013) study results, I believe the teachers who made the suggestion to purchase laptops were motivated by some of the same discoveries outlined in Ciampa’s study: they saw the laptops as an avenue to motivate students to challenge themselves, pursue their curiosity, and take control of their learning. However, without a plan in place for the implementation, the students never had the chance to get to this point. The laptops sit mostly unused in a locked cabinet. When they are checked out, they are used solely for word processing. Why? The only software on the laptops are the preloaded offerings, there is no monitoring software, the school’s network couldn’t support the addition of wifi access for each classroom, and no one seemed to know what they wanted to do with the laptops. I could gloat about being right, but I feel awful that the school’s investment is lying dormant. It’s sobering to know the school has the resources to get almost anything we ask for, yet we do not use our resources to their full potential. That’s part of the reason I am in the MET programme—so that the next time we discuss purchasing technology for the school I am in a position to give a recommendation that is buoyed by a degree and a belief that I have the expert knowledge to give the recommendation.
Does our school have the potential to use mobile technology to motivate student learning in some of the ways revealed by Ciampa’s (2013) study? I think so. However, I think the first step is for each teacher to look at their courses and decide how and when they could use technology. Second, we must develop an acceptable use policy for cell phones so that all invested parties (parents, administration, teachers, and students) are on the same page; then, and only then will the arbitrary rules and the arbitrary enforcement of said rules end. Finally, we must develop an implementation plan for our bank of laptops–it’s better late than never, right?
Disclaimer
I always feel hesitant when contributing discussion posts because my situation is difficult to compare to Canadian contexts. The culture here is so different (and that’s not good or bad, it’s just a statement), that I feel like many instinctively feel that my situation is strange, or incorrect, or just plain wild. While my situation can be challenging, it’s not insurmountable and there are so many positives to working at a school like mine; it just so happens that our experience with mobile technologies hasn’t been overwhelmingly positive. What this post doesn’t outline is how supportive the administration is of my pursuing my masters in this programme, or how they send me to conferences and professional development events frequently (two this year!) As a school, we’re continuously learning how to work together and respect both Canadian and Chinese culture, teaching methodologies, and communication styles. I want to be clear that I’m not bashing my school, the culture, or my situation, rather, I’m trying to give an accurate indication of my personal experience.
References
Bates, T. (2014). Teaching in a digital age. (Chapter 8). Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/
Ciampa, K. (2013). Learning in a mobile age: An investigation of student motivation. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 30(1), 82-96. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcal.12036/epdf
Wow, this definitely sounds like a challenging situation, Meghan. The private school where I recently resigned was owned by a Chinese family, and although our administration did their very best to create a school that mimicked what we are all familiar with in Canada, the miscommunication and mismanagement at the very top level was often incredibly frustrating. For example – the family purchased a small school nearby to cater to junior grades, because the son of the 2 elderly owners wanted his children to attend! But that went horribly wrong and our senior school principal learned it would be closing via phone call. All the teachers who worked there? Learned about their jobs via E-MAIL. Your experience reminds me of the situation there.
It sounds like you have a great attitude for persisting in that difficult environment however – at least you have the instincts needed for future effective endeavours. Not that you may have the time or energy, but perhaps if an action plan could be drawn up for effective use of all those resources they could be unlocked and better put to use. It seems like such a shame, otherwise! Best of luck with it!
Wow–that’s a shame that things turned out that way. I want to be clear that my school is not like that–things are confusing sometimes, but I would never say the school is mismanaged. Rather, it is growing so quickly that sometimes change is reactionary, or slow to happen because administration tends to rely on things that worked well when we were smaller. But, I do feel that, overall, we’re moving in a positive direction.
Meghan,
I find it really interesting that no matter where you are, or what organization you are apart of, similar things happen. Such as implementation without much strategy. Our clinic is located in a hospital so we don’t have much control over how it is run. The hospital management tells us how to run it. They recently implemented an electronic medical record (EMR) system, which in theory is a really good idea. But the EMR was built for a family medicine clinic, not for surgeons. Thus, we have been running into a lot of issues. The EMR was put in place in October, and we are still working out the kinks. Our clinic load has decreased by at least 30%, and we can’t get back to where we were because it takes us longer to do things on the EMR than it did on paper. What was meant to increase efficiency has not proven to be successful. Each of our patient rooms has a computer in it, but it was never designed to be used while talking to patients. . . . it sounds really ridiculous but true. In order for us to use the computer, our backs would have to be to the patient. So you think a laptop would be a great idea, right? We have to use hospital issued laptops, but there are issues with operating the EMR off the laptop. I’ve run into many issues thus far. And every time there is an issue, the EMR implementation team tells me that it’s not their issue, because this program was meant to run off a desktop not a laptop! Sorry. I went off on a little rant, but the point is, when implementing anything, its important to look all aspects of the equation, not just one.
Hi Momoe,
I like that you told me about your experience. You’re absolutely right that this situation seems to exist everywhere. I wonder what the answer is? I mean, in a perfect world someone would be responsible for using a framework like SECTIONS or ADDIE to help make better decisions in these situations. I wonder why that doesn’t happen? Is the cost (time and monetary) to hire someone prohibitive? Is it pressure to “upgrade” quickly? Is it fads? (These are all rhetorical questions–don’t feel like you have to answer.)
Hi Meghan,
Thanks for your post. It’s fascinating to read about your experiences in working within a system where cultural considerations play such an important role. Your description of change in your school as being “reactionary” certainly resonates with me and some of my experiences as well. I also feel as though school administration often gets caught up in the enthusiasm and excitement for new technology, but as you describe, the lack of a clear plan for the implementation can significantly limit the effectiveness of technology usage.
I remember when one of my schools first had SMARTboards installed in classrooms. The staff and students and excited about the new technology, but once the installation was complete, many of the SMARTboards remained unused for weeks, sometimes months, as the staff had never received any sort of direction or support as to how they might be utilized in the classroom. Our administration figured that the school would pay for the SMARTboards and that everything else would work itself out from there. I remember one teacher very sheepishly asking me how to connect the SMARTboard to her computer and how to turn it on. This was almost two months after the installation! Truly, without proper guidance and support for teachers, technology in schools will fall into disuse. I’m wondering, what sorts of technology support or professional development opportunities are available to teachers at your school, or across Shenzen?
Thanks,
– Allen.
Hi Allen. Thanks for your comment.
You make a great point about how, without proper guidance and support for teachers that technology can fall into disuse. However, I think it’s up to teachers to take some initiative. Your example of your coworker asking how to connect the SMART Board is a good example. Yes, she did take some initiative to ask for your guidance, but why did it take her so long? An issue I find in my school is that some people wait for everything to be handed to them in perfect working order. However, the reality is that something always seems to go wrong with technology, no matter how experienced you are. In my experience, the difference between teachers who are using technology successfully and those who are floundering is initiative. For example, I’m the only person on the foreign staff who can work the Senteo controllers. How did I learn? I read the help files online. No one told me to do it, and I’m not required to use them, but I saw their potential benefit so I made sure I knew how to use them. I’ve offered to teach others how to use the Senteos, I’ve written how-to-guides, and I’ve demonstrated the Senteos in open classes (classes where any teacher can drop by to see what you’re doing, then follow up with you later). It’s been 4 years and I’m still the only person who can use them–so, I really think one of the largest stumbling blocks is lack of initiative.
For training in Shenzhen, I would say opportunities are abundant. We’re very lucky in that we’re extremely close to Hong Kong, so we have many opportunities to attend conferences and training sessions held in Hong Kong as well as Shenzhen. I’m attending a conference in Hong Kong later this month and I noticed there are teachers from other Shenzhen schools attending. Shenzhen is the tech centre of China–many tech firms located here (Tencent, Xiaomi, DJI), so opportunities are endless. For instance, some of the Chinese teachers recently attended the makers fair and took our FRC and FTC robots for a demonstration. Our robotics team is sponsored by DJI (a drone company) and the receive mentoring from experts there. Heidi Hayes Jacobs visited my school a few years ago to deliver training on technology integration and 21st-century learning skills. My school is connected to the New Brunswick department of education, so we get two PD sessions each year through them. While we haven’t had any tech centred PD yet, we’re still getting similar PD to Canadian teachers. My school is great in that, if you request training, you usually get it with the understanding that you are to bring the knowledge back to the school and share it with your peers. So, we’re not short on training. However, our limitations (outlined in several of my discussion posts) are often used as excuses for not implementing anything, so training becomes sort of useless after a while.