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Having our state -- and our school system -- invest heavily
in technology for the classroom sounds like a dream come true.
But in the Bristol Tennessee City
Schools, the windfall of technology came with an all-too familiar
problem: Our technology support department was unable to keep
up with the demands of servicing the new networks and equipment.
Teachers were regularly complaining about the amount of time elapsed
between when equipment broke down and when help arrived.
Tired of 15-hour days and a growing mountain of work orders,
Bristol's technology coordinator, Jerry Poteat, initiated a plan
to get computers, software, and users back up and running. His
solution has mice clicking in praise all over the system.
Bristol, known as the "Twin City," is divided by State Street.
Half the city lies in Virginia, the other half in Tennessee. The
schools on the Tennessee side -- with 3,628 students and 247 teachers
-- have benefited from the state's bold technology moves. Several
years ago, Tennessee set aside large sums of money to transform
regular classrooms into "21st Century Classrooms." The teachers
chosen for the program received computers for themselves and their
students, large-screen television/monitor combos, laserdiscs,
and software. And the state didn't just dump the equipment and
run. It provided in-depth training for teachers.
Although the 21st Century Classrooms program has since ended,
another program, ConnectTEN,
continues to advance the technology level of the schools in our
state. Through ConnectTEN, Gov. Don Sundquist and Secretary of
Education Jane Walters spent the money necessary to provide every
library a connection to the Internet. As a bonus, if individual
schools were wired with an internal network, the state agreed
to add a router allowing Internet access to each workstation in
the school.
The schools on Bristol's Tennessee side took advantage of the
offer. Using local, federal, and PTA funds, every school scraped
together enough money to be wired and to purchase a server. This
move proved beneficial in a number of ways. An internal e-mail
system made it easier to relay messages, thereby cutting down
on the number of intercom interruptions throughout the day. We
have instant access to the school's administrative database. Programs,
school forms, presentations, and other resources can be shared.
And with training, teachers can use the vast information of the
Internet in their lessons.
The problems begin
While this rapid expansion of equipment and connections was
occurring, though, other forces were working to break the technological
wave. The growing demands on a shrinking budget forced the district's
technology department to operate with less money. The state's
decision to end funding for the existing 21st Century Classrooms
left many teachers with aging equipment that often needs to be
repaired.
Employees in the technology department took on more and more
responsibilities as the volume of equipment and services increased.
These diligent people would often be seen with furrowed brows
and dark circles under their eyes. System administrators tried
to address those concerns by hiring an additional technician.
Still the burden on the staff -- technology coordinator, a software
specialist, and two technicians -- remained heavy.
The technology department wasn't the only group feeling the
strain. Teachers were often frustrated because they had been given
equipment they did not fully understand how to use. They had heard
about the advantages of being on a network, but did not know how
to access it. And when they had a problem, they had no recourse
except to file a work order and wait.
Anyone who has worked on a computer and a network knows that
problems creep up in the strangest places. Settings mysteriously
change; conflicts arise between different pieces of hardware;
network connections drop; cables become unplugged; and technology
gremlins sabotage teachers at the most inopportune times.
Multiply the amount of new equipment in each school by the number
of people having problems with the equipment by the number of
schools in the system, and you begin to get an idea of how many
work orders the technology department was addressing. Some of
these problems were urgent; others simply seemed urgent to the
people having the problem.
Teachers realized how unrealistic it was to expect two people
to fix all the problems in a timely manner, but that did not prevent
them from getting discouraged when they had to wait a month to
use their computers. Some teachers tried to fix their problems
themselves; some kept a computer-savvy colleague busy (often at
the expense of that person's planning or class time); and some
simply stopped using the equipment.
Coaches to the rescue
As much from necessity as innovation, the fatigued technology
coordinator initiated a technology coach program. One teacher
was chosen from each school to be the liaison between the faculty
and the technology department. In exchange, this person was given
a stipend of $500 (payable before Christmas break) and agreed
to two days of intensive training during the summer. Teachers
receive the stipend each year they work as coaches at their schools.
Although the coaches were chosen on the basis of their technology
experience, the two-day training session proved to be a nice refresher
course as well as an introduction to new troubleshooting strategies.
The mornings were devoted to explaining and working on hardware
components, and the afternoons were spent on software and server
access. The final training experience was a challenge: Armed with
a copy of Norton Utilities
and a toolkit, coaches were asked to troubleshoot an actual problem
under the watchful eye of the technology coordinator. (Norton
Utilities is a program that will scan your hard drive and fix
a variety of errors, hopefully saving you from grief. Most people
use the program only after something bad has happened, though
-- I've seen it bring a number of crashed systems back from the
dead.
The coaches -- nine in all -- agreed to do the job as long as
they could refer anything they did not feel comfortable doing
to the technology department.
Overall, the training was effective, but most coaches expressed
a need for more training throughout the year. As Mary Beth Floyd,
a teacher and technology coach at Central Elementary, puts it,
"I need more hands-on training. [The summer training session]
was just enough to get me into trouble." In fact, more sessions
were held before school began this year. In addition, coaches
have e-mail access to each other and to the technology support
staff. Coaches are also given access to a central server via the
Internet that allows them to exchange updates, files, and other
resources.
The teachers have been enthusiastic about having a contact person
in-house. Ilene Janson, a teacher and coach at Haynesfield Elementary,
says teachers are happy to have someone look into their problems
the same day rather than waiting several weeks. When problems
still require the technical expertise of the technology support
staff, the coaches help by submitting a work order complete with
a history of the problem that lists what steps have already been
taken to correct it.
Coaches also serve as champions of technology in the school.
From developing school web sites like the one at Anderson
Elementary to helping teachers develop more dynamic lessons
using technology, coaches help focus their schools on improving
instructional practices rather than simply on the acquisition
of equipment.
After the advantages are tallied, it is easy to see that initiating
technology coaches is a game plan in which everyone wins.
Gary
Lilly is a teacher and technology coach
at Anderson Elementary School
in Bristol, Tenn.
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