Robin Talkowski’s Blog

Most of us love to share our horror stories about bad things that have happened to us … especially when someone or something else can be blamed.  So, if you want teachers to use technology, spend some time listening to what went wrong when they tried.  If someone asked me, you might hear about the lap top cart that was not re-charged or the computers that did not recognize the microphones we were using for Voice Thread or the band width that slows everything down or even the great reinforcing game that is blocked.

Using technology must be easy.  Every glitch means lost instructional time, frustration, disruptive or bored students, and a hesitancy to try again.  While not all problems can be anticipated or easily fixed, knowing that the technology specialist knows about our frustrations and helps to resolve them goes a long way to encourage most teachers to try again.