It is not uncommon for people in the workplace to have low self-efficacy in experimenting with new technologies. According to the research by Little and Housand (2011), teachers' self-efficacy is determined by how comfortable they are with technology and their ability to give instruction (p. 30). If teachers have not had a great deal of professional development in this area, it is likely they will be uncomfortable. There are plenty of times that I have been in situations with people who resisted using technology. One time, I was placed in a group with two other teachers to give a presentation to the school on a familiar academic lesson. We were required to incorporate technology. We decided we would do this through the use of a Microsoft Power Point presentation. Even after explaining the use of the program to one of my partners, he still refused to use it, and asked me to complete his portion of the power point. I did it, while trying to explain what I was doing, but he just kept repeating he would never be able to learn it. I then had to go over it with him, explaining how we would present it while he was speaking, and I had to agree to be the one to click the button to go to the next slide.
This
teacher was willing to help with the project, did plenty of research for it,
and wrote up a long lesson plan and speech. However, the prospect of using
technology was not met with excitement. This person has no interest in using new
technology because he does not use it in any other aspect of life. He has a
work email, which he has one of his teacher assistants check for him. He does
not have a computer at home and does not use a cell phone. He was able to
graduate from college and have a number of different jobs that never needed a
computer. As a result, he does not find importance for learning it. Using a
computer and interacting with the different programs can be overwhelming,
especially if a person attempts to do it and finds it difficult.
John Keller’s ARCS
model stands for attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction (Driscoll, 2005,
p. 333). To gain the attention of this individual, "called an attitude of
inquiry," I could have searched online for a computer program or website
that would help during one of his class lessons (p. 334). It would need to be something
that would enhance his lesson while requiring very little work for him related
to the computer. This would capture his attention in terms of the benefits of
using a computer. Additionally, seeing that the students can learn more if
technology is integrated, would help him to achieve personal goals of helping
the students get to a higher level (p. 335). If that situation is a positive
experience, he will gain more confidence using technology (p. 336). From that,
he may choose to see what else he can do with technology. Generating
satisfaction is not something I believe will happen immediately with this
individual. Overtime, if he continues to have success with using technology in
his lessons, knowledge will be “accumulated” and "become useful" (p.
337).
Here is an interesting interviewwith John Keller
Here is a simple guide and practicefor using the ARCS to assist with learning
Here is a video comparing the ARCSand KEMP
Resources
Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology
of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson
Education.
Little, C.A. & Housand, B.C.
(2011, October). Avenues to professional learning online:
Technology tips
and tools for professional development in gifted education. Gifted Child
Today. 34(4), 18-27. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost
Reggie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post. It is amazing how many people are similar to your example. Perhaps if the use of technology was a requirement that had to be demonstrated by the individual he would have been willing to meet the requirement. I know from experience that it's hard to make people do something they are not comfortable doing.
I think those hesitant teachers don't use technology in the classroom because they have somewhat of a selfish worldview. I think they are only worried about how hard it is for them to learn, instead of seeing how important it is for the students to learn and use in order to be functional members of our society.
ReplyDeleteThis is truly a great post. I am 27 years old, so I have grown up learning and exposed to technology through the duration of my lifetime. I agree that many people are afraid and unwilling to learn how to use technology when they are not comfortable with it and have never found it necessary in the past.
ReplyDeleteI understand you explained the use of the program to your colleague and offered to train him and he still refused. I think it is awesome that you were willing to go to these lengths for a fellow colleague. I believe he is missing out on great experiences to enhance his instruction. However, I think we must consider, as Tina stated, how difficult it is to make people do something they are not comfortable doing. I am not saying this is the right way to be. I am just stating we can all relate to this perspective in some aspects of our life. It may be easy for us to criticize someone about be unwilling to use technology because we are accustomed to it, but it may be difficult for us to embrace certain things we are not accustomed to.
I don't know exactly that means someone has a selfish worldview. I just think it means someone needs extra support in that area. Which is exactly what Reggie tried to do. That does not mean we are going to convert them the first time we try. We should provide this extra support, not point fingers. As educators, if we were to adopt this way of thinking, we would surely give up on our students at the first sign of struggle.
Reggie,
ReplyDeleteI have learned over the past few years that some teachers are set in their ways and do not want to try new technologies. This has been a struggle at my school the past few years. Our district has bought all of this new technology for us to use, but some teachers do not want to use it because they feel what they are doing is good enough since they have had a good success rate.
Amanda