But.. But... But... Obstacles to the Effective Integration of Technology in the Physics Classroom and Simple Solutions to Make it Happen.

A general theme of articles written about the integration of technology in the classroom can be seen in the recent article in Education Week called Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach written by Benjamin Herold (Herold, 2015).  That article points to resistance by teachers to make the necessary changes as one of the key components of the obstacles to integrating educational technology. "Many teachers lack an understanding of how educational technology works" (Herold, 2015).  The over arching solution also a common theme" is in expanding teachers' knowledge of new instructional practices that will allow them to select and use the right technology, in the right way, with the right students, for the right purpose.".

I would argue that this is really an over-simplification of the issue although it is true that if teachers do not transform the way they teach or the way they use technology... it will not happen.  If our interest is truly to transform education our approach must be different than simple "getting people to use it"

In a research project by the sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.  They discuss the need for developing "authentic uses" of technology.  Not just as an add in or tool for teacher presentation.  "The technology use is integrated into activities that are a core part of the classroom curriculum."(https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/overview.html)

In my experience teachers are more than willing to change what they do and integrate new methods to enhance the education and learning environment for students.  Teachers are professionals and it is not simply inexperience or a recalcitrant nature that keeps them from integrating technology.  There are real and substantial obstacles in the way of integrating technology.  In this blog I am listing some of the obstacles and some suggestions of methods to overcome the obstacles.  As pointed out in the article of Suzie Boss Overcoming Technology Barriers: How to Innovate Without Extra Money or Support creative solutions to many problems have already been developed, teachers acting collaboratively can overcome virtually any obstacle. I have numbered them for convenience, but the numbers do not indicate importance or significance.

1) Not enough equipment.  Even in the age where schools are moving to "Bring your own device" or "1:1" programs, the supplemental technology might be limited.  Camera's and data-collection probes are two examples of equipment that are truly part of authentic uses of technology in the classroom and it may be difficult for teachers to obtain and maintain this equipment.

Solution?  Share. Sharing the equipment between several classrooms can help to combine resources.  Whether it is the computers themselves or the peripherals it is not likely that effective integration will require the equipment to be housed 100% in one room for the students to use every day.  This of course will take careful planning on the part of the teachers and flexibility to enable sharing.

Solution?  Grouping.  With creative grouping, teachers can develop learning stations or multiple learning environments where students can use some of the equipment while other students are engaging in a different part of the process.  Having students work together will help minimize equipment needs and will increase the authenticity by having students working cooperatively toward a common learning goal.

2)  School WiFi blocks sites or is unreliable.  Although the article in Education Week points out that this is no longer a significant obstacle, if it is even an obstacle 10% of the time it will impede effective instruction and would be an understandable barrier for a well-planned teacher integrating technology.  It is almost worse if it is only sporadically down, because then you can't even plan around the disruption.

Solution?  Encourage the school to unblock needed sites.  Ask the technology managers to supply teachers with passwords to bypass blocking software.  This is in the end one of the biggest stumbling blocks, because it is outside of the teacher's control.

Solution? Cache sites so that they can be used off-line.  Have multi-tiered lessons that use multiple activities and that students could continue working on even if there was a temporary disruption.  

3) Equipment is unreliable and I spend more time solving tech problems than the students do learning.

Solution?  This is not really an obstacle.  You are helping students use the best equipment to engage in the richest learning experience.  Part of the solution is to try all of the equipment out ahead of time.  Visit the web-site, collect some data, print a graph.... Whatever you are going to ask the students to do, you should do first to see what possible issues could arise.  Technical difficulties are part of the process and part of the learning.

Solution?  Allow students to help each other.  If you show one group how to bypass a problem, have them show another group.  This in fact will help you build a collaborative leaning environment.

4)  Students/Parents/Administrators do not always recognize self-directed, student-centered, technology based learning as teaching.

Solution?  They have a valid point.  It is not necessarily teaching as we know it.  We would hope that if we were trying to transform education that it would not be immediately recognizable as school.  The best solution to this would be to communicate.  Parents and students have a right to know what the plan is.  What is most important is that the leaning environment is supportive and engaging.  Teachers should strive to be very clear about instructional goals and to expect parents and students to ask questions.  This is not necessarily a solution but is instead an embrace of the obstacle.  To get parents on board is to gain a strong ally who will make integration of technology easier and more effective.

Solution?  Talk to your administrator directly about your plans.  Explain how your integration of technology is enhancing the student learning experience.  Invite them into your classroom to observe and participate in the learning.  What administrators are most interested in is that the students are engaged and the parents are happy.  If you get the parents on board, the second piece of this is easier.  Even when self-directed learning looks chaotic, an administrator who is involved in the process will see the value.


Resources:

Herold, Benjamin, "Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach"

Education Week June 10, 2015 

Boss, Suzie,  Overcoming Technology Barriers: How to Innovate Without Extra Money or Support. Edutopia.com, August 6, 2008.

Dragula, Peter, How to Overcome Technology Integration Barriers, 2005

http://www.techlearning.com/news/0002/how-to-overcome-technology-integration-barriers/63862

Rowand, Cassandra,  Teacher Use of Computers and the Internet in Public Schools, 2000

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/frss/publications/2000090/index.asp

U. S. Dept of Education study on Education Reform.

https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/EdReformStudies/EdTech/approaches.html