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September 1, 1998
The Challenge of Introducing Technology
by Bonnie Bracey
My name is Bonnie Bracey. I am a teacher. I spent the last year in a
technology lab in a school in Arlington, Virginia. This school was different from the
other Arlington schools in which I had worked. It serves multicultural and often transient
families and has very dedicated teachers. When I worked on the north side of the county,
people would make fun of the challenge of working in a school such as this.
I was invited by the school, Randolph Elementary, and welcomed by the
administrators. They wanted me to put my words into action. I was formerly a spokesperson
for education and technology on the National Information Infrastructure (NII) Advisory
Council. I knew I had been away too long from teaching, which I really love, and the
council felt that I could try out some of my ideas in a school. So I went back into the
classroom.
The assistant principal was supportive and techno-savvy. The principal
was even more interested in technology. The school is across the digital divide from the
richest part of the county. It had some technology when I arrived. We had lots of Higher
Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) technology and Apple 2Es. Two computer coordinators did the
troubleshooting and instructed the teachers in technology. Eventually we received 13 Power
Macs, and I brought two IBM computers to have cross platforms. I had never had access to
more computers in a learning setting. The lab also had VCRs, a digital camera, and a large
television connected to the teacher's computer.
I was really excited. In addition to the computers, I had a gold mine of
software applications. Tom Snyder, Pierian Spring, The Learning Company, National
Geographic, and other members of the Software Publishers Association allowed me to use
their products to support using technology as a tool. I had boxes and boxes of software. I
had the permission to share and show what was possible in a real school. I was to be an
agent of change. A computer-using teacher in a technology lab. I was empowered—or so
I thought.
Interfacing with the staff was rather hard. The term Balkanization
describes the situation. The politics of many schools support "turf-guarding,"
which prevents motivated and otherwise creative individuals from making greater strides to
blend technology with their schools' cultures. Because computers have the potential to
benefit so many people in the school in so many different ways, those affected are often
at odds. Even more problematic than the initial Balkanization is that one or two teachers
are often designated the school's technology "experts." For example, we had a
building computer professional and another person with a bigger role, who was on call, and
who was better trained than those with only technology as a job.
The task was not as easy as I had thought. I did not realize that to the
building coordinators I was an interloper. I also forgot that I was a stranger in the
school, but I worked on that. The teachers were friendly to me, but some were opposed to
technology and saw it as just another thing to do. I bent over backwards to get people to
visit the lab. Some never came. I realized that for certain classrooms I was also an
intruder. Some teachers want to have the children to themselves, to stand and deliver on
their own.
Those at the administrative level were also displeased. On the first
meeting of the technology staff and the administrators, I got scorched. I was told that I
could not use any of the equipment I brought unless I donated them to the school. I
blinked. I felt that I had made a terrible mistake. The next day, I took my best software
home, but not out of selfishness; I use the software in outreach, at conferences, and in
training, so I felt that I had to maintain some level of personal technology. I started
lugging software back and forth. The initial discussion was soon over, and we were ready
to be a technology lab. The principal's support was important to me. Gradually I relaxed
and left most of the software there. I still got apprehensive when I could not find
something, but I had taken the first step.
Perhaps I should have observed or studied the school, but it was huge. I
started out inviting to the lab people who were interested in using technology as a part
of their work. That made me focus on the equipment that was already there. I did not have
much beyond what I brought with me. I petitioned to place the software on the hard drive
to make it accessible to students and teachers. But I was "just" a teacher, so I
was not allowed to place anything on the hard drive. I was not sure what I could do with Reader
Rabbitand Sammy's Science House, and I was not charged up about games. I
wanted a reasonable mix of good programs—like the ones I had sitting in the boxes on
the floor.
Somehow the principal came through. I was allowed to use the technology,
and I had letters from the software people giving me a site license for most of it.
National Geographic gave me a subscription to KidsNetwork. I danced around the lab I was
so excited. I was allowed access to the hard drive. Some teachers fussed, but I tried to
be there for them when they needed me. There was a valid concern that I was not employed
by the school system to instruct teachers. The principal wanted me to model the use of
integrated technology, but the teachers were confused about my role. They came to me for
help, emergencies, and other resources. It took a little while to clarify this policy. I
had the confidence of the administrators but not of the technology team. Sometimes people
questioned me about rushing technology. I never brought up the NII position. I did pass
out some of the books and the documents, but I found a lot of them in the trash, so I knew
I was starting from ground zero. No one seemed to have heard of or care about NII. This
was site-based decision making—out of sight, out of mind.
The principal wanted the Internet in her school. We remained online with
the two existing Internet connections in the library. I moved one to the lab and used it
mostly with students on the large monitor. I never got a school account although it was
promised to me. Consequently, I used America Online. It was easy to install and zoom onto
the information highway. I relied mostly on software and project-based learning because
the connection was too slow, and I was prone to being bumped off the Internet because many
people were using that line. Some people stopped talking to me when I first started using
it, but I did it anyway. I had kids to teach.
Some of the technology I used was new to the teachers and students. The
Macintosh computers I used initially were put into the classrooms when the new Power Macs
were installed. I believe that there was an initial concern about taking time to have to
learn a new program.
Little by little, program by program, my work as an agent of change
began. I started with KidsNetwork, and I worked with teachers using HyperStudio.
Sunburst gave me a break on typing materials, and so I jumped on it. (In my county the
third graders are required to learn to type.) Using word processor programs, Pierian
Spring science and social studies programs, and National Geographic atlases, I forged
ahead. Soon, teachers were bringing in whole classes during my lunchtime. All of the free
planning time was used, but I won a grant for afterschool clubs. The lab was becoming a
success. With the tiniest of fingers, children were using technology as a tool.
At Christmas, a child's artwork was selected for a major chain of hotels
as a holiday card. The whole school was caught up in the affirmation of children's work.
Consequently, we opened up Digital Chiseland HyperStudio. Some used Kid
Pix, but the use of art in technology was firmly established. Teachers peeked and
dropped in to learn about technology. There were a couple of glitches: we ran out of
computer disks, and the time in the computer lab was booked. I was glad for the holiday.
The friction between the building people and me diminished for the most
part. The former HOTS teacher and I joined in a team with another teacher, and we created
small miracles as they followed our projects. At the end of the school year, the kids
were several grade levels above where they started. Some of us, as teachers, had
made a great adjustment in becoming a team. I decided to stay after school at least three
times a week to allow access to the computer lab to students who needed extra help.
Teachers would also wait and work in the technology lab after school. By
this time, they had figured out which software they really wanted. Site-based decision
making was much easier,because I was able to demonstrate the technology, and the teachers
often took over the lessons as I watched.
I had the support of Charles Cook, the ITC, who had the responsibility
of the school. He had lab experience. He knew the software and hardware and acted as my
ambassador to others. We were changing the learning landscape. Two teachers learned HyperStudio
so well that they created autobiographies for people in a nursing home as a part of the
holidays. It was working.
What I did was possible because of structure for teacher training and a
technology building plan. In addition, there were people on call if I needed help. A woman
I met online helped me with a teacher by providing a reason to use the Internet, and she
and her students sent hard-backed books to one of the classes. The kids in the class
corresponded with her about the books. Many of these children had never had their own
books.
The afterschool group, with funding from the Washington Post,
grew into my afterschool buddies. We sat for hours, learning various
programs, participating in outreach for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
I was even able to take some of the kids to the Air and Space Museum. George Lucas allowed
the kids to tour the exhibit of Star Wars at the Air and Space Museum.
I was not successful in getting the Internet to the school. But I was a
member of an enthusiastic staff who embraced technology. It was a pleasure to be able to
be an agent of change. I planted seeds of understanding.
Email: Bonnie Bracey
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