In my efforts to be a good Web 2.0 citizen, I try my best to add some original thoughts to whatever I post. However, I ran across this blog entry from a teacher named Bill Ferriter and I think it stands on its own as a reminder of why we’re here and a cautionary tale for overzealous network administrators.
As technology leaders, we have a legal and ethical obligation to provide a safe learning environment for our users. Our effectiveness is often measured by the availability of technology and we do all we can to ensure that technology is working properly and available when needed. I don’t think any of us have a problem with that. I’ve actually seen some really good listserv discussion today about creative ways to block access to sexually explicit web sites and it serves as a reminder of yet another obligation placed on many technology departments.
If you’ll read the linked blog above and some of the comments that follow, you’ll get a much-needed perspective from a teacher trying to effectively integrate technology into his instruction. I won’t recount his experiences here, but the link is definitely worth a read and it should force us to ask ourselves if our technology departments could be seen as the roadblock or obstruction to technology integration. I’ve heard network admins brag over the years about how effectively they’ve locked down a workstation or lab. However, I’ve had another admin point out that “…you can lock these things down to the point that they aren’t even a computer any more…”
Take a few minutes to read this blog post and ask yourselves if you or your department could ever be perceived this way. Do your best to not forget why we’re all here and that, while we have an obligation to maintain functionality, we need to enable effective technology integration where possible rather than be perceived as a hindrance to it.
Hey Jody,
First, glad that you found my post—and the comments that followed—valuable in some way.
One of the real weaknesses in schools today is the lack of opportunities for classroom teachers and system administrators to interact with one another on a ongoing, meaningful basis.
The result is probably the biggest roadblock to either group being able to do their work well. I mean, when I think logically, I understand completely that the people working to protect our students have the best interests of children in mind and that they care deeply about the "success" of the system.
And at the same time, I'll bet that most system administrators would never claim to be instructional experts. They probably recognize that the best teachers are innovating in ways that they'd never be able to imagine and they probably stand in awe of the work that classroom teachers do every day.
The hitch is that neither group has a deep and meaningful understanding of the work being done on the other side of the aisle. I don't know the rules and regulations that guide the decision making of system administrators and they don't know the kinds of techniques and strategies that can make a difference in classrooms.
I'd bet that if districts upped their commitment to making sure that cross-conversations happened between these two groups, we could find safe ways to get every child learning with 21st Century tools.
Does any of this make sense?
Bill
Yes, it does make sense. I work with several K-12 CIO's in Kentucky and I plan to use your blog entry to spark some discussion on this topic.
In many districts, both groups (teachers and system administrators) are focused on "fighting their own fires". The IT crowd is hard-pressed to keep the technology working and the 'easy' solution to incompatible or unfamiliar software causing them problems is to simply prevent its installation.
As you've pointed out, the teacher's dilemma is that the instructional time is valuable and the 'teachable moments' need to be seized when they are available. If a piece of technology cannot be used at that moment, it is indeed perceived as a roadblock and keeps the teacher from being as efficient as he/she could be. Ironic that, in this example, the system administrator's desire for efficiency and success comes at the expense of the teacher's desires for the same.
Maybe some of these Web 2.0 tools can be used to facilitate these discussions that need to take place. I agree that there is a need. Teachers need to understand why the IT department might choose to block web sites, ports or software installations. The effective technician will understand that their role at its basis is to support the instructional process and would hopefully befriend tech-savvy teachers to gain some insight as to which tools may need to be enabled.
The conversations need to occur and, along the way, we need to get people past the stereotypes that sometimes prevent those conversations from occurring. Techs are often perceived as the 'Internet police' or control freaks who love to wield the power of administrative access. Teachers can be perceived as unable to be trusted with a computer, sharing their passwords with students, installing useless resource-hogging software, etc. There are slices of truth to each in some cases, but these conversations hopefully would help us move beyond that.
Thanks for the comment and keep up the good work – even when blogging in your moments of frustration, you're provoking thought with your commentary. Take care!
Jody