I agree with your comments as I have seen this communication breakdown, I have seen decisions being made or endorsed by people who have little or no knowledge or insight into the implications of these decisions. This is boards, principals, IT managers, teachers, technicians…. the whole spectrum.

I am one of the privileged few teachers who has worked over a holiday break for a multinational doing tech support. I was a technician on the ground and running. So I have a perspective in both camps. I also know how little professional development is made available to technical staff and how little is actually designed for supporting a school environment. And as you reiterated, if you skimp on wages you end up getting what you paid for.

Education must lead technology. We must give the teachers the room to experiment and innovate, but this does not mean Support is not involved, rather they should be assisting, suggesting and providing. This is the partnership to learning, teaching and support. There must be educational drivers. It must enhance learning.

It is interesting that we expect our students to get stuff wrong. Good teachers use this oh so human trait, to get the best learning experiences. It focuses on what we don’t know and allows us to develop. The use of ICTs should also be like this, sometimes we have to try and get it wrong to know what works and what doesn’t. One size does not fit all here.

Could any of us imagine a school where students were only allowed to be taught in one way – “chalk and talk”, where differences in learning styles (visual, kinesthetic, auditory or readwrite learner), intelligence types (Gardner’s Multiple intelligences) or gender differences are ignored? No such a school would be unthinkable (I hope). But in many cases this is exactly what happens with the use of IT.

I think there are exceptions – Cindy sounds like one, I know a few others too. Isn’t it a pity they are the exception rather than the rule.

A