The interviewee, Lisa, is a teacher and educational technology coordinator of an international school in Bangkok Thailand. In addition to these duties, she teaches grade 7 language arts. She has been with the school for 7 years and has held the formal title for the last 4 years. Over the course of these years, she has been heavily involved in the growth of the school. Below is a summary of our interview, split into specific points.
Challenges
One of the main challenges talked about was that of consistency when you are doing the job in an international setting. Many new teachers come in every year and there is a sense of “starting over” in terms of getting full teacher buy into the programs used. Lisa also discussed at length the issue of time. In a job that is not always well understood it can be difficult to manage her time and monitor and encourage the other teachers effectively. She also noted that admin support is a crucial element in the success of the job. When admin is supportive and helps to enforce the importance of the job it increases the chances for success greatly.
Learning
Lisa indicated how important it is to understand the people you work with, realizing not everyone comes with the same passion, interest, and often times they come with preconceived notions they cannot figure the technology out. This led her away from doing professional development that was example based, to workshops where teachers did hands-on activities. This ensured that there was always a takeaway, that teacher could use. Differentiation, she learned, is important when dealing with colleagues also.
Misconceptions
The most common misconception people have about educational technology, according to Lisa, is that it is essentially the same job as an IT technician. Explaining to teachers her job doesn’t include fixing computers is a common occurrence each year.
A further misconception about tech that is often harder to manage than the belief technology shouldn’t be used is the belief technology should always be used and adds value in every instance. Truthfully one always has to evaluate every activity based on its merit and if the tech adds no value to the exercise then you need to upgrade the activity. For example putting a worksheet online into a form may be using technology but it’s still a worksheet and has the same value as it did on paper in terms of learning.
Hi Ryan,
It was interesting to read your abstract- I too had ‘challenges’ as one of the key words that stood out during the interview. Your interviewee, Lisa, had challenges with time and also noted that admin support was crucial for success. My interviewee, Zelda (an administrator), also noted that time was a big issue. Learning about how to successfully integrate technology into the classroom takes a lot of time and effort. Zelda said that she had set up an opportunity for teachers to be part of a technology workshop that was offered afterschool about various literacy programs that could be used and only two teachers showed up. The challenges she faces as an admin is both similar and different from the challenges that classroom teachers face but the biggest similarity is time. Everyone has different schedules and commitment is not easy.
Under ‘Misconceptions,’ you stated that “putting a worksheet online into a form may be using technology but it’s still a worksheet and has the same value as it did on paper in terms of learning.” Your statement is pretty much what Zelda said as well- how we integrate technology needs to be thoughtful and we cannot just throw around technology like it will fix everything. Using word processor for an hour a day is not the best way to use technology and yet it happens. I saw many similarities between both of our abstracts even though one was an administrator and one was an educational technology coordinator- it is all perspective:)
Hi Sabrina,
I think time is always a factor for everyone and integrating tech is no different. To do it right does take time and effort and I think this was reflected in what your interviewee said. It’s a difficult dynamic I find, as admin. There are sometimes when things need to be mandated (everyone at my school needed to learn google classroom for example as we needed a schoolwide platform) but the most successful tech initiatives, I believe, come from passionate teachers who show their immediate colleagues how great an application or device is. The fact that their friend can do it makes it that much more easier to jump on to. I often wonder about the best ways to encourage this.
Hi Ryan,
Your interviewee raised a good point about how everyone has different passions. I think that is important to realize that not everyone is going to be passionate about integrating technology within their practice and sometimes we forget that as educators. I also agree that having admin support is essential and found that during my interview as well. Admin are very powerful and the leaders of the staff so its definitely helpful when they are on board. This line stood out for me, ” Truthfully one always has to evaluate every activity based on its merit and if the tech adds no value to the exercise then you need to upgrade the activity.” This is really important and there needs to be valued added and purpose behind using technology. Thanks!
Thank you Amanda. Alice Keeler (http://www.alicekeeler.com/) is an individual I am a huge fan of in the Ed Tech world and she often makes that exact point regarding technology. Are we evaluating how it adds value to the activity? It’s something that has stuck out for me as well as I transitioned to an administrator. When a teacher suggests the purchase of a certain technology I am always open. However, I want to know exactly how they plan to use it and how they see it enhancing the learning activities of their students.
Hi Ryan
I like the fact that you discussed there is turnover every year of teachers.
I wonder if there is a way of putting a worksheet online in a way that it would be more engaging for the student?
A good next step might be to research why there is a high turn over and what could be done to retain teachers.
To keep the conversation going — make sure to respond to at least two other learners as well respond to all learners that respond to your own post. When responding to other learners, expand the discussion.
Christopher