EDUC 8845

Welcome to the blog of Milton B. Francis of Walden Universty Ph.D. in Education program, with an Educational Technology concentration.
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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

New Technologies

In 2005, I was appointed by the former principal of the high school in which I currently teach to be the school’s technology coordinator and web designer for the school’s website: A position that I accepted with honor and humility, and still hold, maintain and regard with dignity. A feature of this position is to plan and execute technology professional development workshops for my fellow teaching colleagues in a timely manner. On one occasion, the school decided to switch from the system of the manual submission of grades (paper-grades) to a system where the grades are submitted electronically. A planned workshop, in collaboration with the school’s chairman of programming, to teach the faculty how to submit their marking period grades electronically via the school’s district email was set to get underway. Upon the announcement of this workshop several weeks in advance; it was met with negative responses by a few teachers. Some of these responses ranged from the timing of the workshop to its necessity. It was noticed that these negative responses were mainly from the faculty members who were in an older age category, and who had been teaching for a vast amount of years. Having observed this type of initial resistance, the program chair and I informed the principal, who told the faculty that it was a mandatory exercise, and that she would not tolerate such behavior.

On the day of reckoning, many of the resisting teachers straggled into the workshop. With this type of negative response, we (the program chair and I) decided that we were going to use a lot of hands-on experience, and less modeling, as we thought that this would have been a more practical way to demonstrate the need for this type of technology. The workshop began with a very brief overview of the reason why this change must be enacted. While making this presentation, the program chair was being heckled by a group of teachers who were seated in one section of the room. Some of these expressions of disapproval included questions and statements like: Why do we have to change? The way that we are submitting the grades is alright, nothing is wrong with it. Will this change improve the performance of the students? Who will benefit from this change? The principal then paused the meeting and ask the teachers to listen, as they will see the real benefit if they give the presenter a chance to continue. This was done, and the brief presentation was complete.

It was now my turn as the technology presenter to address the group. I modeled the use of this new wave of technology in the grading system. I then asked different teachers to volunteer in using the technology. To my amazement, this was where the root of the resistance originated. The younger teachers did not mind showing off their skills of technology, but the older, more experienced teachers, were afraid to use this modern day tool. I discovered that many of them did not use emails, more so, the district’s email. At that moment I realized that my job as the school’s technology coordinator has now taken on an added responsibility-teaching teachers how to use email (something that I took for granted).

If this workshop is being conducted in 2010, and with the knowledge of John M. Keller’s ARCS (Attention, Relevance, Confidence, Satisfaction) model, I would take a much more sophisticated approach to solving this problem. First, I would reckon that the older, more experienced teachers lacked the motivational skills that were needed to accomplish the task. In trying to inculcate this motivation, I would seek to gain their attention by capturing whatever little interest there is and stimulate their curiosity to learn. I would use low tech analogies that they used in their classrooms when introducing a topic to their students, comparing it to how I use hi tech to gain their momentum in the desire to learn new tools of the education system. Modeling, as was demonstrated then, would be a major issue, as this would try to encourage them to adapt to this new wave of discipline that is sweeping through the system of education. The next step to increasing the motivational level of my experienced colleagues is to show them the relevance of this new technology to the grading system. I would tell them that this new learning will improve their existing skills, and that they would best learn by building upon their present knowledge and skills. I would show them, during modeling, how they have technology skills embedded within them, and that these skills are just waiting to be released. With reference to future usefulness, I would allow them to see the need of the task for their immediate future, and how it makes the workload much lighter as teachers who are engrossed in consistently grading students work.

Having gained their much needed attention and showing the relevance of the new technology tool, my next task would be to build their confidence in the use of this tool for success. I would help them to believe or feel that they will succeed and control their success of the use of this new technology tool. In building this confidence, I would inform them that understanding the use of this tool will take time. They do not have to rush in understanding it, and if confronted with difficulties while using the tool, I am always available to render assistance. Don’t be afraid. I would also share with them their control over the use of the tool. They control the technology tool; the technology tool does not control them. This will allow them to demonstrate ownership, not just over the tool, but of their learning of technology.
Finally, after building all this confidence, seeing the relevance of the technology tool to the education system, and capturing their attention, I would now turn to the goal of satisfaction. Every person, irrespective of their strata in society, needs to feel that their accomplishment is recognized and that their effort is not in vain. So, in allowing them to feel satisfied, I would constantly praise their efforts when they emailed grades to the program chair. This praise would take the form of positive feedback and reinforcement of the use of the system. I would also invite the principal to commend their efforts and show her approval for their acceptance of the challenge.


References

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Retrieved February 8, 2010, from ARCS model of motivational design (Keller)

3 comments:

  1. Milton,
    Excellent efforts to make this work!

    Change is something that can be met with lots of resistance..but your handling of this mater is to be commended!

    I have a similar problem...I hope with the modeling of ARCS...the resistance will lessen and the results will be favorable!

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  2. Milton,
    Your account of the resistance to change displayed by your “veteran” faculty is such a repetitive theme thoughout the history of public education. I fear it’s going to be an eternal one. Fortunately, it also appears that we’ll continue to have new, innovative teachers who’ll manage to refuel our movement forward toward 21st century thinking and learning.

    After reading your blog and revisiting how Keller’s ARCS model applies to my current teaching situation, it was interesting (and a bit amusing) to me how the motivation of some adult learners compares to that of young children. So, I decided to take a closer look at that comparison in light of the categories (and sub-categories) of the ARCS model (http://www.arcsmodel.com/Mot%20dsgn%20A%20cate.htm) and the strategies I’ve utilized to motivate my kindergartners (Carlton, 2003):

    Attention and Relevance
    KG: Provide a sensorial environment (through exposure to a variety of age appropriate toys, manipulatives, media, learning activities, etc.) that allows children to freely explore and to see the effect of their actions.

    Adult: Attend to sensory stimuli, inquiry arousal (thought provoking questions), and variability (variance in exercises and use of media) when establishing the learning environment; help answer the learner’s question, “What’s in it for me?” and, clearly communicate the benefits of the new knowledge or skill (Kruse, para. 4 and 5).

    Confidence
    KG: Give them ample time when working to allow for persistence; respond to the children’s needs in a consistent, predictable manner, but allow them to be as independent as possible with clearly defined limits; and, provide situations that give them an acceptable challenge (to stimulate critical thinking processes).

    Adult: Give learners many opportunities to feel they should and can put forth good effort toward the learning task; enhance their capabilities of achieving the learning objectives in efficient ways; and, esp. in technology-based training scenarios, give them estimates of the time required to complete lessons or a measure of their progress throughout the learning process (Kruse, para. 6).

    Satisfaction (Sense of Achievement)
    KG: Provide many opportunities for the children and teaching staff to explore together and interact directly; give them opportunities to evaluate their own accomplishments by asking them, “What do YOU think?” and, apply limited praise and rewards based upon their efforts and persistence, rather than on the actual accomplishment.

    Adult: Provide opportunities for learners to work collaboratively with colleagues and to establish support networks; develop a reward and recognition system that helps them develop a sense of achievement (both during and after the learning process); and, facilitate the learner’s immediate application of their newly learned skills to on-the-job situations (Kruse, para. 7).

    Obviously, I was required to “upgrade” some of the concepts and strategies for the adult learners when making the comparisons above, but I was none-the-less intrigued by the similarities. Perhaps this phenomenon reflects the meaning behind the phrase “… still young at heart.” :-)

    References:
    Carlton, M. (2003). Motivating learning in young children. Retrieved February 9, 2010, from
    http://www.nasponline.org/resources/home_school/earlychildmotiv_ho.aspx
    Kruse, K. (2006). The Magic of learner motivation: The ARCS model. Retrieved February 11, 2010,
    http://www.e-learningguru.com/articles/art3_5.htm

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  3. Leasa

    That was a very interesting comparison. Before reading your comments, I commented on your blog post, and the phrase 'still young at heart' relates to 'Leasa, do you notice that irrespective of our ages and experience, as human beings, we still want recognition?'. That's so interesting.

    The 'dinosaur' veteran colleagues is really here to stay. You are so right. But as you and I know, we have a job to do, and no 'Goliath' will stand in our way.

    Leasa, blogging with you in this course was interesting. Let's not stop there.

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