Standard VII is about providing efficient access to technology. Districts have a serious need for technology leaders that can plan for all the stages of providing access to technology. Purchasing technology is not enough. The equipment has to be made available to teachers in an operable state. The infrastructure must be able to support the increased demand of additional technology. High quality support must be provided for teachers when technology does not work as expected. The support must be ongoing as the technology is continually utilized in the classroom.
Policies must be in place to ensure that once equipment is purchased it can be used to improve student performance. The procedure to implement new technology must be well thought out. Just purchasing a laptop or net book cart and delivering it to campuses is not enough. If the equipment is not in working order when teachers require the equipment it is only taking up valuable space. Teachers become discouraged and continue to do what they were doing before the equipment arrived. At the school where I teach we have student computers in the library and in five different computer labs but those computers don’t meet the needs of the teachers in their classrooms. According to Williamson and Redish, “…inefficient arrangements may be one of [the] most viable theories to explain why teachers still cite access as a barrier to integrating technology into learning” (2009, p. 150).
Professional development to train teachers that are expected to use new technology must be included in the total cost of the technology. The district that I work for requires teachers to attend training to receive some technology for their classroom. Technology purchased for the school does not require teachers to attend best practice training. In order for teachers to use technology in the classroom to improve student performance there must be embedded needs based training.
During these times when budgets are being cut it is becoming imperative that technology leaders can plan, acquire, maintain, and implement new technology with the available resources. Equipment must be made available and kept in working order to ensure teacher use. Recently our school received a netbook cart. After being connected to the network and charging for three days teachers were supposed to be able to use the netbooks in the classroom. However, a month later the netbooks are still not able to connect to the wireless access point. The procedure for getting the issue resolved is unclear and teachers have just stopped asking when the netbooks will be available. If schools are to continue to receive funding for technology it must be used in the classroom to improve student learning. According to Solomon and Schrum, “Professional developers have tended to design programs that attempt to implement strategies to change practice; unfortunately, when the support and funding disappear, frequently so does the change in practice” (2007, p. 101).
References
Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.
Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). ISTE's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every K-12 leader should know and be able to do (p. 58). Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.