Reflecting on Resistance to Technology Use

A recent blog post from Barbara Bray touched something inside me that I think is important to write and to think about. Barbara talked about the CBAM stages of concern. This was research that explained how innovations are adopted. It applied really directly to the innovation of technology in schools. She basically expressed surprise that the same percentages of teachers seem to still be resistant to the use of technology even though it is not an innovation any more. It has been around for 20 years or so. Why is this?

I think I have discovered one possible reason. I recently started working as a Technology Insructional Partner at an elementary school. In my district EVERY school has a TIP who supports teachers and students as they use technology. Not only that, but we have laptops, digital cameras, digital recorders, color printers and even itouches! In our situation technology can actually become transparent. Teachers have actually begun to risk trying new things. Even some teachers that were reluctant to use any technology have talked about knowing that they need to use more technology. I am beginning to have conversations with teachers about the importance of evaluating websites and the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0.

Even with all of that I find that sometimes I feel overwhelmed and frustrated. Technology seems to change faster all of the time. There are constantly new things to learn. It often doesn’t work when you most need it to. My main job in the school is to support Educational Technology, so if I am frustrated just think what classroom teachers must feel.

This reminded me of some action research that I did for the ISTE NETS course I took probably in 2001 (?) One thing that I learned was that there were essential conditions for successful use of technology in schools. The NETS spell out what all of these condtions are.

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2000Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2000.htm.

I think that our school has most of the essential conditions that are needed for successful technology use and that is why we are beginning to see success. However, I think our school is in the minority.