A situation where I have tried to encourage people to use
new technology that met with resistance results would be the introduction of
our new Focus grade book. “Focus School
Software was incorporated in 2006. The
founder of Focus/SIS, Andrew Schmadeke felt that there was an opportunity in
the marketplace to create a student management software that was more
user-friendly and provided a better-rounded suite of solutions” (http://www.focus-sis.org/student-information-software).
I was given the job as Grade Book Administrator. The challenge was for me to train all
teachers how to use the software program.
I created a calendar for training grade level chairs to assist in
training all other educators. The problem was that all teachers were not affective
participants in the trainings. Most were
doubtful and reluctant to use the program due to all the glitches at the
beginning and some were due to lack of insufficient computer skills.
I would change the motivation of these educators by using Keller’s
ARCS model (as noted in Driscoll, 2005).
The ARCS focuses on the learner’s attention, relevance, confidence, and
satisfaction. With these conditions in
mind, I would motivate the staff at my workplace by using incentives such as “goose
passes” where teachers can earn extra leave time for attending the
meetings. Grade level teachers will also
create small groups to demonstrate knowledge on the interactive SmartBoard after
initial training to build confidence and satisfy the need for a more hands on experience.
References:
Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for
instruction (3rd ed.).Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
I responded to:
Amanda Langston www.langstoneducationaltechnology.blogspot.com
Petti Arthur http://www.pettiarthur.blogspot.com
I have also trained teachers on how to use a new gradebook system. The teachers that were resistant to change liked the previous system better. Teachers also feared that once they learned the new system it would change again.
ReplyDelete