The Analogy
In order to set the stage for our professional development, I begin with an analogy to help illustrate how we would like teachers to re-frame their thinking.
Imagine if you were asked to hang a picture on the wall. In order to do so, you are presented with three tools: a hammer and nails, a wrench, or a circular saw. Which of these tools would you choose?
Of course, most people would select the hammer and nail as the appropriate tool. However, the next question is how did you know it was the right tool? Do you use that tool every day? Did you take classes on how to use that tool?
The reality is most people don’t use that tool everyday, yet through exposure to the tool or previous experience, they realize that it is the right tool for the job. There is a basic understanding of the tool and task at hand that allow people to determine which tool is best. In addition, the task itself is relatively straightforward, and the tool is rather simple in nature allowing it to be easily selected. By focusing on the task at hand, the selection of the tool is pretty simple.
Looking at technology integration in schools can be quite the opposite experience. Through purchases of new hardware, or exposure to various types of software, educators often begin their planning with the tool first, instead of the task. Pressure from administration, peers or parents have teachers looking at how they can integrate the hot tools like an iPad. I have seen professional development focused entirely on how tools work rather than what types of tasks the tools can be used. Which is not to say that the professional development is of poor quality or a waste of time, but it leaves educators to make their own connections and apply these tools on their own.
Going back to the analogy, imagine walking into a room with a power drill and asking “what can I use this on today“? The idea seems rather silly, but in reality that is how many educators approach technology integration. In order to change this mindset, the focus needs to be brought back to the task, rather than the tool.
As with the tools for hanging a picture that are not used on a daily basis, there are many tools that teachers do not use on a daily basis but still have a basic understanding of what the tool is. The next step to this is to deepen the understanding of the tool, how it can be used, what it tasks can be used for, and how that tool can be used in conjunction with other tools.
For example, if you were once again asked to hang a picture, only this time you were given three tools: hammer and nail, a level, and a tape measure; would you know how to use all three together? The task itself is still the same, however you are now able to use different tools together to achieve the same task. However you might think using three tools to hang one picture may be overkill, and that is a very important evaluation to make. The amount of work, time and energy to using all those tools to accomplish a simple task might not be worth it. Although, if the complexity of the task changed, and you were asked to hang three pictures, using multiple tools together might become necessary.
Both the complexity of the tool and the task have an effect on each other. This is an important relationship between tool and task. The skill of being able to evaluate both of these relationships while planning leads to effective integration.
This analogy illustrates the direction of our professional development and our ultimate goals for the year. In the next post, I will look at a way in which we plan to address the technology tools in our district in order to streamline professional development and create common vocabulary amongst staff so that we may begin laying the groundwork for understanding the relationships between tasks and tools.
Part One
