Children = no problem
I've never come across a child yet that hasn't been excited, interested and engaged when using technology. The children have always been willing to learn something new without any reservations about it working or not. Sure I've had a few say "I don't know how" or "I can't" easily solved by "yes you can" and "ask our expert..."
Teachers = a little harder
Engaging teachers in tech has sometimes been a little more difficult. I find this especially difficult when you have a wide range of abilities. From the "I know how to do this I'm going to go on Facebook and update my status" through to the "hang on can you do that again I didn't get it, oh never mind I'll ask you later" right up to "this isn't working, what are you doing in weekend?"
We had another Activboard training today, similar situation to what I've seen in most technology professional development some chalk and talk demo type situation, but also teachers had their laptops. This was the second group of teachers we've had boards installed for. I was impressed. I have to say the ability to talk while the presenter was talking and to have a play while she was talking was actually something that I think helped the teachers to become more comfortable with the situation. The proof comes from the comments:
"This is the most excited I've ever been about technology"
"oh wow, that's so cool"
"I can use this to do ..... tomorrow"
So why is it that this was so successful? What makes it more successful than other tech development I've seen? Was it the outsider coming in? Was it because it was so relevant to their classroom tomorrow? Was it because they walked away with something they could use tomorrow? What made it useful?
How successful will it be in the long run? How do you make it successful in the long run?
More thoughts to come soon...
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