Barriers

What barriers or constraints are teaching this type of learning from happening in your district, school or organization?


 * Staff development and getting staff to understand technology and learn to use the tools.
 * “There is a time constraint for planning. This is something new, so to put it together in a meaningful way . . . and who do you look to? Sometimes a feel alone trying to do this by myself.”
 * “It’s just getting past the mentality of what school should be and what it’s always been” There is an emphasis on tools and most people who have the capability to use those tools are ready to move forward.” It’s getting the community to realize that we have to move forward . . . it is a necessity of the future. The issue is the haves and have nots—people see it as a tech issue rather than a learning issue.”
 * Money is an issue for us in building on what we had.
 * “People are in different areas in their knowledge of technology. Finding the time and deciding what type of professional development to keep the people running with it, running, and helping those walking to run.”
 * Math teacher—where is the money going to come from? We need to fight for time in the computer lab. Where do we get the money to allow students to have access to the technology.
 * Time, money, and the have and have-nots. There is a bigger and bigger divide between users of technology and non-users, and a divide in quality of education. I have received negative feedback from my peers for trying to become a 21st Century teacher. There isn’t enough comfort with technology—teachers who persevere. Jealousy among teachers – smartboard given to one teacher but not others.
 * Need to change structure – 45 minute periods, time for collaboration, limit on length of school year and hours of school day. We need to do this to make these changes effective in a bigger system.
 * We need to get past the community mindset – haves and have nots, those who have the skills and those who don’t. Barrier is own ability or desire. People haven’t had others show it.
 * Our buildings are very principal driven as opposed administration (central office) driven. When a new initiative is tried, there is pushback from the principals. We can’t get them behind the initiatives. I don’t think it is fear; no motivation to change; if it’s working, why change? Very much because of culture.
 * The problem is time, we frown on lecture, technology is one more think, you give us more and more to do and not taking things away there are somany days that realizes upon the internet and the internet is dow or 6 minutes and waiting and waiting and waiting
 * There are barriers in having a collective vision and mission. The district as a system – difficult to have a shared vision (are we really all on the same page; do we really have a shared vision?) Also, the culture of the district—things that happen from the bottom up, perceptions of teachers, what are the expectations that people have, what are their expectations? How have people accepted change? At a system level, these things present barriers. I tried to initiate teacher-based teams. There is a constant collaboration between me and the team, but some teams don’t realize that there needs to be give and take between me and the teams—so there isn’t sharing and collaboration and it’s hard to stay on the same page. Schedule, practitioner efficacy, we don’t always feel empowered to truly make a difference. We become defensive and use a lot of reasons we cannot do something. All the four dimensions of change create a significant barrier.
 * A teacher who was resisting went to a presentation and heard about what employers are looking for. She went home and downloaded the presentation. There is hope.
 * Some students are exposed to teachers who use technology one year, but then the next, to a teacher who doesn’t use technology. It’s only fair for the kids to have exposure to the technology tools.
 * It’s hard because you cannot learn to use smartboards in a single day.
 * Where do you find the time?
 * If you are one of the slow goers, maybe intimidated a bit, maybe you aren’t given enough time and direction and then are expected to use it. Some people can simply turn the projector on and show it. Where does the fault lie?

Barriers

Access to devices....they have to book technology labs

Old Foggie Teachers... wanting to do the same old 20th lesson plans-a cultural barrier

Time...starting and learning something new when we are already overstressed

A "go-to" person...teachers need this resource

Money...budgets are getting slashed, pinched, and constrained

By-In....other teachers need to get on board. Always the same go-getters

Ideas...training of the various devices for everyone-good examples-Like Fairfield Team 2s Viral approach :-)

Access (three teachers)...web marshalls are blocking too much. It limits us and aggravates us.

State Testing...so much time spent on assessment, no time for technological development

Assessment...tough to develop good assessments for the technology based projects. Being in uncharted territory makes it more work for develop. Time, testing and by-in all relate here.

Obsolete Tech...many schools have aging tech which can't move fast enough and access shuts down many open doors.

Tech People and Curricul People are not on same page....so worried about security for enhancing education.

Creativity or lack there of....tired of hearing about money, tired of no creativity being used by district in finding money. There are answers other than levies."

Question: What barriers or constraints are keeping change from happening in your district, school, organization?

"Ironically,one of the biggest barriers is technology" "everything is a server issue, everything is a security issue" "We have to find a different way to finance things" "we've taken a step backwards" Issues: fear of liability & Litigation

"We still have a filter that doesn't let up get to things we need to get to" "Our Facebook project all had to be done at home" "Teachers are old-school" Not buy-in from teachers

Access: access to computers "18,000 students; computers '1:5" officially" "People want to buy-in, but IT does not support the desires"

Not just about technology Barriers: "lack of good models and opportunity to model" "Time, time, time" It's a change in teaching and that takes time

"Fear and frustration" "Infrastructure is really old" Don't plan if cannot get online

Technology in MS and US not so much in ES but ES students expected to have skills "Initiatives don't last"

Fear of parents who go to administration to shut down change "filtering down from the parents" Educate parents to overcome cultural barrier

"One of the barriers we have is culture, classroom culture" "Nothing is in place to ensure that change happens" "If it's not in the contract, we don't have to do it" students: "Well aren't you going to teach us anything" "Students don't want to be engaged Can't you just give us a worksheet" "They [students] have certain expectations about how school is"

"Technology is an after thought "How can we make this 21st century"" "My biggest issue is that we have a huge number of administrators who don't have an understanding of technology" Administrators see it as a goal on a plan bot don't put it out there for themselves

"How much is it going to cost" When you're always being told no, it's easy to not do it It was all new 7-8 years ago, but now it's all so slow and takes 10-15 to log on

"Lack of administrative modeling" - vocal support is present but not much modeling "resistance within the technology department with student devices" "What will it do to our bandwidth" - makes tech dept. look bad if things slow down Don't do these initiatives to make the tech job easier

Professional development: "we put a lot of time and effort into core areas" "Technology is seen as an add-on" "Leaders in curriculum are not users of technology" No captive audience for PD "Teaching to the tech choir" "So many initiatives, 21st century is another initiative" Great if it's being stressed by someone in authority until someone with that kind of authority backs it, it's not going to filter down and happen

"What do you mean I have to learn something else?"

"Think about all the other initiatives that don't involve technology"

"We were taught the new system in March but we don't have access to our own stuff until August to work on our own stuff and we have to teach it to everyone else"

"Curriculum mapping: I hate it"

What barriers or constraints are keeping this from happening in your district, school or organization?

Access Lack of understanding Fear….teacher resilience to change Assessment in testing Schedule Grading Time Time for Collaboration Treating your job as a job not a profession and don’t want to do anything extra Wanting to complain rather than try something new and just DOING IT The way we schedule our day Money Lack of vision Misspending money??? Having to be parents as well as teachers to our students Demands on teachers Bombarded with initiatives Doing something digitally would take away from their regularly planned curriculum Too much choice for teachers…need to be mandated Lack of support Packed curriculum Inquiry takes time…can be messy When we allow kids to lead and initiate learning it takes time…and you can be sidetracked easily So much comes from one lesson and we need to find the cross curricular connections Pressure from testing Moving classes Frustrations Data driven instruction…and that people don’t know how to read the data…data invalid Interpretive data Do we want to be a master at everything or just do things a little bit? There are so many expectations What barriers or constraints are keeping this from happening in your district, school, organization?  · “I think one of our biggest barriers is funds and resources, especially in Ohio the way education is being funded. We have to have resources to fund professional development.” · Universal commitment. One level leadership on another level people following. Buy-in: On upper end – we’ll commit resources and time. Principals and administrators – we some here, but not all. Teacher level: Is this the flavor of the month? Are they really gonna ask me to do this 3 years in a row? Lack of buy-in can be caused by cynicism; uncertainty: funding; some people are less committed to professional development “lazy”. · “Time, standardized test, how do I cover the curriculum? We don’t have the equipment. Not enough training. Change is uncomfortable.” · “Access. You show us all of these wonderful things. It sounds fun, but now we can’t get there.” No consistency with network. “Our technology department – the leaders are not educators – they are very concerned with control of network instead of what the needs are. It’s been a struggle to get open access or any access.” · “The upkeep of the technology. Wonderful pieces come in and then they are not maintained. Then they end up in the hallway in boxes and they end up nowhere.” “Something needs to be built in to keep the technology up and running.” · “Teacher preparedness and training is key. My experience has been that when the new practice is not something that they have always done, the use of the tool is new, their confidence and training - is that tool going to get the job done?” Do they have the confidence in themselves to be successful with the new tool. · Priority. “Putting it on the back burner. We don’t make technology and these skills a priority. The need part isn’t there for all of us. Our money has to go here, here, and here. And we need to get this, this and this done.” · “Trust. Trust from the teachers stand point that the student will be self-directed in their inquiry, self-directed in their passion and engaged. From the other side, the IT standpoint to give access to the technology. Hesitant to give a wireless approach. The curriculum – trust to cover what can get covered. The confidence that I can do it all.” · Culture. That we as teachers are learners with the students. Barriers – Standardized tests. Have to teach the knowledge vs. the learning. Hard to visualize what this really looks like. We need the visual models to know what this looks like. It is very abstract. We understand the tools, but it doesn’t always transform the teaching and learning. Too abstract – what is transformative learning? Fear - why are they going to need us as teachers? Are we going to put ourselves out of a job? ·  One of the main reasons librarians are losing jobs – we are not looking for new ways to help kids. · Teacher control – how do we make sure that they are still on task? How do I make sure that they are still engaged? · How do I know that they get the old stuff when I do it a new way? · <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Standardized Test · <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Perception that we as a school are doing great. Our scores are great. Why do we need to change? · <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Success and how we measure success. · <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14pt;">