Reflections on First Assignment 1_20_2011

     The conditions spelled out by ISTE represent an idealized environment where the use of technology in the classroom would be an experience not fraught with the usual messy world of real life. This is my second semester of student teaching, and I have not been at my current school long enough to address each point of the conditions in detail, but I can comment in general from my experiences at all the schools I spent some time in either observing classes or student teaching.
     The thread that runs through all schools seems to be a general understaffing of the IT Depts., so that wait times for teachers to get routine IT chores done, like hooking up a printer to the network, can take weeks, and sometimes months to accomplish. It seems a shame that the funding issues have created an environment where schools have adequate systems in place, but lack FTEs to help. At some schools, teachers who are interested in technology will often take on the role of de facto IT support, in addition to their normal duties. That is fine, but schools need to have dedicated staff to run the systems they put in place, otherwise the technology is not only underutilized, but it becomes more obsolete with every passing day.
     The conditions as they are spelled out make sense to me, although I am skeptical about the ability of any school to meet all of them. They are high standards
     Out of all the standards, I think the most essential to success are adequate and consistent funding, and reliable technical support. Of course, student-centered learning is important too, but IMO good teachers are good teachers under varied conditions, so a good teacher who may not be entirely technically savvy will likely have the skills to design lessons in technology that engage and motivate the students. However, a good teacher who needs some help implementing technology as a resource will never get their projects off the ground unless they have the funding and support to do so.