All right. So I learned enough information about
Bartlett's technology culture to keep me rambling for a few hours at least. I learned that though it appears as if Bartlett is doing well in the technology department, looks can be
quite deceiving! I have heard several teachers mention their
dissatisfaction when it comes to technology, either because they do not understand how to use it to their advantage and no one is willing to teach them, or because the technology they want to utilize is not available for numerous reasons. Suffice it to say, technology and Bartlett are
not bosom buddies. We have a few teachers on staff who are tech-savvy enough to assist other teachers, but we have only one main tech-guru, and he's very busy most of the time. Creed is still waiting for his classroom's 20-something computers to be connected so that his classes may use them for Moodle, their Blackboard-similar discussion board through the ASD. Creed has emailed Don, the technology guru, numerous times to no avail.
It appears that Bartlett's lack of technology is due to several reasons, the most critical of which are lack of funding and support. It is frustrating to know that Bartlett received a technology grant for Smart-boards to be purchased with, but the money is not enough to purchase the number of Smart-boards necessary. Also, in the beginning of the school year, during Inservice, the administrators at Bartlett pushed for the teachers to post their grades online. For teachers like Colleen, it is not feasible if someone does not actually sit down and spend the necessary time explaining how to go about posting online grades.
Thus, Bartlett needs more money, more support from within the school, and more technologically savvy people in order to even begin pursuing its goal of being a technologically advanced school.
If you want to read more about
Bartlett and what I found out talking to Creed, Colleen, and other teachers, simply click
here .
Hope everyone is doing great!
