Technology--Spread the Joy!

At LHS, we have three teachers who are paid a supplement to be the go-to people for technology issues. If you have a question about your computer, printer, or showing something on your monitor to students, your first line of defense is one of them. If they can’t fix your problem, then a trouble ticket is sent to our county person. However, they don’t provide much in the way of training or developing a technology-rich climate at the school. Our only technology training in the last two years: we needed training on the new Infinite Campus system. Four teachers went to be trained as trainers and then came back and held several sessions to teach us about the gradebook and portal systems, nothing unusual but not very exciting. Nothing to make the teachers think "Oh, boy! Another tech training, I can hardly wait!" And as far as the media specialists go, they answer questions and show teachers how to use our computer resources and AV equipment, but don’t offer any formal training. They mostly provide the beginning of the year tours, and orientation sessions to groups of researching students. My mentor says with teachers feeling so overwhelmed and short of time, there isn’t much interest in any scheduled meetings to discuss technology. Time, energy, costs involved, and the desire to participate really are obstacles in promoting and teaching technology.
But look at all the technology ‘tips’ we have shared with each other. Some of them we’d never heard of, some of them we were already familiar with, but didn’t understand their potential uses. These sites and mini-trainings are too good not to share! We need to spread the word, even if just using an emailed "Tech Tip of the week," with a one page pdf quick guide emailed out to teachers. Or, more personally, I’d love to offer an informal, “technology happy hour” every week or two for a half hour after school. I’d have cookies and punch or coffee, and just whoever came that week could join in for a look at a website or two, some new software, the new video cameras, or a few novel uses for sites such as Delicious, Slideshare, Audacity and so on. This could be good way to strengthen relationships with the teachers and help introduce then to technology they can incorporate into their lessons in a non-threatening way. They don’t have to make a big time commitment to a long meeting which is a big hurdle for most teachers. My ‘ticket out the door’ every week would be a mini survey on whether they wanted to learn more, or whether they had other requests for training. I think this could also lead in to more in-depth trainings being offered in the future, depending on which technology the teachers were most interested in. At that point, I could recruit help from the system or school tech person, if needed, and further trainings offered.