EdTech Avenue

There are many different ways to report problems with technology, as well as many different problems to report. Anything from user issues to software issues (is the application frozen or is your computer frozen?) to hardware issues can eat up hours and hours of a technology coordinator’s time. And when the technology coordinator is all you have in a school, that could mean teachers and students aren’t getting the personal attention of the technology coordinator either.

Many schools have formal reporting processes such as problem “tickets,” forms to fill out on paper or online, or other procedures. I have yet to find something that works. I haven’t worked out a system of my own, even after six years, because quite honestly, as technology changes, so do the problems and possible reporting methods.

I take requests any way someone wants to give them, although I do handle them a bit differently, depending on my current status of busy-ness and projects. Electronic methods are, of course, my favorite. Email is great because I can flag messages and set reminders - but along with those benefits comes the inevitable problem of old messages getting pushed further and further down the Inbox list. Windows Messenger is becoming a little more common for us as well. I trained my teachers in using IM for tech support in preparation for my maternity leave in February. I will not be having a sub for my position and have worked out a leave that allows teachers and administrators to still contact me with questions. I also have LogMeIn installed on my main workstation, which allows me to log in remotely to my machine, connect to the school network, and access any tools I would have when sitting at my desk (Windows Messenger, Remote Assistance, files, Remote Desktop). With Windows Messenger, I can address problems immediately and my users are able to see if I am available at a given time (online, away, offline) rather than waiting to see if I reply to an email.

Very rarely do I get written requests, although they do still pop up occasionally. These frequently get lost in the paper shuffle on my desk, and I have to be reminded later that they exist.

My least favorite method is verbal. Not that I dislike talking with people, but my mind ain’t what it used to be… I forget! So often someone will wait until they see me at lunch to report a problem, and there is little chance I will remember what they said once I return to my office. I ask them to email me instead. I realize how powerful the visual is - they see me and then they think of what it was they were going to ask - but the fact remains that while I may answer the question and file away the issue in my brain, the likelihood of remembering to actually act on it is slim.

What do you use in your school? Do you have suggestions that would work in various situations? Do you have any comments to share on what works and what doesn’t work for you? Please join the conversation!

I was prompted by my reading today of Wesley Fryer’s Needed leadership qualities post. I am still catching up on some archives, and while many articles have been bookmarked for viewing and reflecting later, this one spoke to me immediately, especially after having read Scott Mcleod’s What makes administrators effective technology leaders? post from last week. I am always looking for ideas about how to become a better leader in my field, and these articles were definitely food for thought.

I think the biggest question is where the leadership is coming from.  It’s fairly evident that it must come from more than one person to really implement systemic change.  While I am the main driving force behind integration implementations and strategies at my school, I would not be nearly as effective without the support I get from my principal and veteran teachers.  Meeting resistance from them would make my job miserable.  I think there are probably many different leadership models that work, depending on the personalities of the people in those situations.  We in smaller K-8 schools have a wide range of responsibilities, job descriptions and authority, so what works for me might not work for someone in the next school.

My process is working so far, and as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I was taken off-line slightly last year and we lost some momentum.  Before that I was making great progress with a combination of group training and individual help (that was after I realized I couldn’t start everyone at the same level; a similar situation was described here by Scott Elias).  I tried to find where teachers could first replace an existing task with one that uses technology, and they responded well and took off on their own adding enhancements to the lessons.  I also implemented electronic grading software, making them “have to” use technology for their own organization.  Amazingly, the teachers who were most resistant are the ones who can’t live without it today!  This year we’ve started to make up some ground, and I have a handful of teachers who are eager to plan projects for next year.  Many teachers still use technology because they have to, but slowly and steadily the number is growing of teachers who WANT to use it and see the value in creative assessment and student ownership of a technology-produced project.  Having this new network of ideas and shared situations in the edublogosphere has really helped to re-energize me in regards to being an integration guide for our teachers.

Please share your strategies, what works and what doesn’t, and maybe we can all gain a new perspective as we look to planning for the 2007-08 school year!  Are you a part of the hiring process and/or evaluation process for teachers?  Are you the main decision-maker for technology purchases?  Do your teachers respond to group classes and/or individual training?  How do you handle resistant teachers and/or administrators in your school?

At Blessed Trinity, I’ve given teachers and staff numerous methods for reporting issues, including the recent implementation of Windows Messenger and the Windows XP Remote Assistance application.  It was a huge surprise to me that teachers did not quickly embrace these instant-help options.  Teachers currently use email, phone or in-person methods to report problems with their computers or the labs.  I suppose they are not using their computers as often as I, but the thought that I could immediately see that someone is there and can answer my question without having to send email or make a phone call (or worse yet climb three flights of stairs) would be preferable to me personally.

And with all of these avenues available to them, some problems still don’t get reported to me.  For example:  We are at two campus locations.  I spend most of my time at the campus where the servers and majority of the computers are.  I have asked the teachers at the other campus many times that when something comes up in the computer lab there to record the error in the log I have provided AND email me about it so I know it’s there.  I don’t check that log regularly - it is not a reporting method, simply a log for my reference.  And yet I will hear later, sometimes weeks after the initial problem arose, that something needs to be fixed.  I try to explain that if they don’t email me (whether or not they’ve recorded anything in the log), I won’t know about it.  Unfortunately things have not changed in the four years I’ve been using the logs, so do I need to change something in my methods?  I want to find the best way to service my users.  They become frustrated when I don’t address issues quickly enough but will not follow the methods I’ve given them to get the best response.

What is the best reporting method for your school?  Why does it work for you?