What

What's the problem?

That's usually a pretty simple question to answer: I stubbed my toe, I didn't pass the interview, my car broke down. Not all problems are so simple, though. I looked to the experts to see what has been explored before. Through this I came upon standards in place for technology in education, the ISTE standards.

ISTE STANDARDS FOR EDUCATION LEADERS: 3c: Inspire a culture of innovation and collaboration that allows the time and space to explore and experiment with digital tools.

I could get behind this. I could frame my problem around this standard. So I thought about it and came up with a problem statement:

"Teachers need to be shown how technology can be transformative and creative rather than a passive replacement."

But wait... that's not really a problem is it? It reads more like a self-righteous post on social media than a well defined problem. This is going to take some more work.

I kept asking "why this?", answering myself, and asking "why that?"

I did that 4 times. It's called asking "5 whys", and is a great exercise to get down the real core of an issue.

Why do teachers not know how to integrate technology to be creative and transformative?

Because they have not seen examples of creative and transformative technology usage

Why have they not seen examples of this?

Because they are only shown the basic usage of a tool and then sent out to use it

Why are they only shown the basic usage of a tool?

Because there is not enough time or resources to make every teacher an expert in a tool through professional development?

Why is professional development the primary method in which tools are discussed?

I got specific about the "what"

"Traditional professional development doesn't teach teachers how to use technology to create and transform". That reads much more like a problem. It also begs the reader to follow up "well, what are you going to do about it?". That energized me. I reframed the problem until I found a statement that had a protagonist (teachers), an antagonist (professional development not teaching) and an object (how to use technology to create and transform). Now all we need is a redemption arc for the antagonist. A party might help.

How do we solve the problem?