Sliced Bread

An apt title for my first 60 day blogging project, apologies to Split Enz , 6 Months in a Leaky Boat, showing my age I guess. 

I need to vent so I will. These are my personal views only, they do not reflect the views of my employer or colleagues, although some do agree.

ICT failures or poor systems have created frustrating but not insurmountable obstacles when trying to learn about and implement new digital literacies or technologies. I am still keen, just reservedly so.

The simple fact is I am having a much more engaging, less frustrating learning experience at home than at work. Maybe that is the ‘evil DET intent’? (I am joking, partly…..) I can see why students feel the same way in many cases.

My findings after 60 days;

• To get appropriate software updated on my work computer is cumbersome. I am not authorised to complete a routine install that took me only minutes at home. (eg Moodle, java, del.icio.us and our own DET IWB software, all free and could be installed remotely but we had to wait for an onsight techy at extra expense)
• I prepared professional development materials at home to share with colleagues at a staff meeting in week 6 (eg ‘Did You Know’ Australian Version)
• When tested on site at work, I find these resources are permanently blocked. Not even allowed to ask for a filter review on this one. DET NSW does not allow such things, they are evil.
• attempted to share my wiki and blog with students, but these words are universally blocked by DET.
• The laborious method to have these educational resources unblocked on a one by one case took 3 weeks to resolve, we had moved on in class by then, result? no ICT use for that unit.
• to book one hour access per teaching cycle to enough computers is a problem in itself
• but then to find a ‘critical incident’ prevents students using computers when we finally accessed them (yeah a router went and could of happened anytime anywhere) but …
• the point is, I then can’t rebook that space again for 2 or 4 weeks and by then the wiki unit of work I wanted students to use is no longer relevant. We have moved on.
• repeated failures of technology by those who have one on one access (eg own laptops) and/or  assistance or time to set these up to work. It does not look good to an audience ready to learn, imagine if i did this in class, hang on I have, it is not pretty and feels awful.
• 10, yes 10, failed attempts at staff meetings, PD days and whole School Development days this year alone. 
• A range of technology failures from DVD’s to data projectors to computers to theatre systems to not having the right plugs and/or switches to having critical incidents at point of need, the variety is amazing. The result is identical.
• End result? A strong message to often 100 plus teachers that ‘technology’ is not working well.
• An outdated shared computer in a critical college location (’the theatre’) that will not allow professional development materials to be viewed as intended. 
• Leaders have not planned for the update of this vital item over a  6 year period due to “who is responsible and then no one is” type issues. Not good enough.
• The closed antiquated and monolithic web1.0 nature of the NSW DET portal, especially compared to open, engaging and user friendly sites I’ve learned from over the last 60 days European portal, iclass, Tasmanian Mindtools, edna and a variety of bloggers.
• TaLe and CLI do provide a growing base of quality resources. Navigation is still counter intuitive, despite their recent upgrades for users, compared to open educational sources .

I want to see all learners, especially teachers, engage more deeply with quality resources, not neccessarily just ICT ones.

I still believe my critical reflection as a teacher is “How do I improve my current digital students learning?” and not “Is More Technology the Panacea?”

I have said before; 

• I want to embrace this digital age so my students learn better
• I believe I am trying hard to learn and apply new skills
• I am convinced of the amazing learning possibilities of web2.0 et al.
• I personally enjoy this type of learning, more so “at home” than “at work”. I just wish the two supported each other more.
• I believe teachers I work with are receptive to ICT change, if it is structured and supported.
• “Baby Steps” are good steps

BUT if systems failures or frustrating ICT blocks or time wasting as i have conscioulsy documented since 1st June are a reflection of my workplace then we have to ensure planned improvement is a priority. Pain before gain Coach Macca used to say.

In no way is my personal view a reflection of individuals. It is systemic and I want to help improve the current situation. I just hope others who can help me improve things are reading this, for that is my intention. 

After all 2 Months in a leaky boat is not so bad, providing the Titanic is not looming or Neil Finn’s words in Split Enz lesser known classic are not prophetic.