I see where ‘”just” a teacher’ is coming from when professional development opportunities are denied for teachers to learn about how to better integrate technology due to budget or concerns about inconsistencies in the classroom. Perhaps administrators who can do something should question the real reason for the request denial. If a plan of action was in place for a teacher to participate in training, plan for implementation and/or gather resources, implement, reflect, and share, the long term benefits would be exponential. However, personally, it has been my experience that training, in general, is not thought out to this extent. Often times it occurs, but there is no time for proper implementation or follow through which is probably why it ‘seems’ like a waste of money, and if a school is only looking at the immediate benefits of training, many schools/districts see a loss which yields denial of request for training and extreme frustration for the teacher.

So, I completely agree with Scott, that we need to better educate administrators with regards to how to assist teachers in effectively integrating technology into schools.

Administrators are required to attend conferences and training that many of our teachers are desperate to be able to attend. Since many of the admins don’t want to be there, they arrive late, leave early and text in the hallways. I’m sure someone is hoping they will “get it”

I only know this, because I have made these observations while attending some of the same conferences at my own expense. There are usually not funds available to send “just teachers” unless they are the rare few in Professional Development.

Recently several teachers have even had a request to attend a technology conference at our own expense denied because we would need to miss one school day. The minimal expense for a sub was seen as too much, although admins were given a free ride. This is especially ironic because we are undergoing construction this summer that will transform our classrooms into 21st Century Classrooms with all the bells and whistles.

Is it any wonder that recent findings show mixed results in the use of interactive white boards in teaching effectiveness. It makes me wonder what training was available to those teachers. You can lead an admin to water but if they aren’t ready to “get it”, leadership might have to come from the classroom level and rise up until the tide finally carries them to where they need to go. It would be better for all if it weren’t just those teachers who could afford to fund their own training who were able to help this happen.

That makes sense. It seems to me that formal leaders are the ones putting together these learning opportunities, so why don’t they gear them toward other formal leaders? I guess I’m wondering if you have any answers for your questions.

It seems like it should be as easy as 1) offer more opportunities and 2) take advantage of the opportunities.

Why doesn’t this happen?

It’s not about the equipment; it’s about the learning. If you look at the financial and professional development resources that typically are allocated toward educators, virtually all of them are oriented toward teachers. Similarly, most ed tech grants / initiatives are aimed at teachers or students. It’s very difficult to find programs that aim to ramp up administrators’ knowledge and skills to be more effective technology leaders.

Paul also is correct when he says that administrators don’t take advantage of what is out there. For example, administrator attendance at ITEC or ISTE is very low, perhaps because the majority of the sessions are oriented toward other audiences. California, Arkansas, and Nebraska have had pretty good success with administrator-only tech conferences.

Scott is saying resources aren’t being allocated for formal leaders and Paul is saying that formal leaders aren’t taking advantage of the opportunities presented to them!

I’ll ask again, Scott: can we get some examples of what you mean when you say dedicated resources aren’t set aside for formal leaders? What is it that I — classroom teacher — have access to that formal leaders don’t?

Good post Scott!