Chapter 3

Chapter 3 starts to look at a problem that comes up any time change is introduced into an environment. How do you incorporate the change into your current daily set up in a fairly seamless manner and help those that have problems incorporating change into their day lives.  In most classrooms and schools, technology is not a prominent teaching tool.  This chapter took some time to look at effective ways to integrate new ideas into the classroom and the school.  These included CBAM models which help faculty go through a process of accepting the new technology on a personal level, and public level, and a group level; professional development for the faculty so they can understand the equipment they have been giving and how to integrate it into classroom learning and how to use it; and having a committee that spear heads the change of technology.  This committee is important for helping administrators see the importance of new technology in the classrooms, for organizing professional development seminars, and helping those that are resistant to change adapt better.  The end of the chapter touches briefly on how to incorporate technology into our daily lesson planning in an effective manner, not just as a markerboard that can be plugged into the wall.  

Getting people to actually accept and start using technology seems to be one of the toughest things for people in any job to do.  In my current job I see this in several different ways.  In my office, people are resistant to updated technology that changes the way that they currently are comfortable with doing things.  While the main reason is a comfort with the known, there is also the idea of trying to find the time to learn the newer technology and the loss of productivity during this time.  The next thing I see is the integration of technology into the classroom and the resistance on many levels that is meet with.  At one school district I am working with we were trying to decide if each room was going to have a SmartBoard in it.  When we asked the facility manager he said that only the teachers who would gotten this technology would bring them in, that not everyone would have one.  In this case you have some classrooms with more technology then other classrooms and the difficulty of placing the technology and the proper infrastructure for it in the correct areas.  In my opinion if a district is spending the time and money to build new buildings, they should go ahead and put the technology in now and let the building be a part of the future of learning.  Finally I see the technology that is placed in the rooms and how the teachers are currently using it.  Through my observations at work or for school I have seen teachers that have technology but no place to plug it into, teachers that don't know how to use the technology to it's full potential, teachers that were given the technology but have no intention of using it, and everything in between.  I think this chapter was a great starting point on what we need to do to encourage change and the steps needed to make it happen.  Whether it be direction from above, a group of respected faculty that help with the transition, or a number of different option - there needs to be a plan for the change to make it happen.