Barriers to Technology Change

I posted this comment to the article It’s the Technology, Stupid… on Steve Hargadon’s blog.

There are a lot of barriers working for hindering change in schools.  The primary barrier is time in the classroom.  The curriculum is so wide, that teachers are too stressed and pressed about teaching to worry about change.  The best teaching practices require extra preparation time and energy, and many teachers just don’t have enough left.  There is just not enough time in the day to fit it all in.

Second is lack of administrative vision for technology.  Again, they are busy, too.  However, they are the instruction leaders in their schools and districts, and they should be putting resources toward best teaching practices to facilitate a high quality, student-centered school.

Finally, profession development is lacking in both quantity and quality.  We teach the way we are taught.  Lecture is the fastest, easiest, most efficient, most used, and least effective teaching technique used everywhere.  Professional Development and beginning teacher training needs to be taught with the best teaching practices the teachers should be using in their classrooms.  It needs to be long-term, ongoing, individualized, small-group, collaborative, project-based, just-in-time learning.

Time, vision, and training are just the beginning of integrating technology with learning, but won’t happen without it.

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