Doug Johnson

Just-in-Time Technology Training
Teacher Magazine, October 2004

Is investing in technology training a good investment of a teacher’s energy and time? Isn’t this just another passing educational fad? (Can you say outcome-based education?)

Considering that technology is a permanent fixture in banking, medicine, manufacturing, farming, and, well, just about any enterprise one can name, the probability that it will remain one in education is very good indeed. If you as a teacher have scarce time and resources to devote to learning new skills, learning those that will last you the remainder of your career is a sound investment. All teachers do need to be “technologically literate” if they are to both improve their professional productivity and to give their students the learning opportunities technology provides. If we don’t, we are as unethical as a doctor who refuses to learn how to take advantage of a CAT scan.

The International Society for Technology in Education does a good, if ambitious, job of describing what teachers should know and be able to do with technology in its NETS standards <http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/>.  These de facto national guidelines suggest that teachers:

• Demonstrate a sound understanding of technology operations and concepts.
• Plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology.
• Implement curriculum plans that include methods and strategies for applying technology to maximize student learning.
• Apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies.
• Use technology to enhance their productivity and professional practice.
• Understand the social, ethical, legal, and human issues surrounding the use of technology in PK-12 schools and apply those principles in practice.

But until somebody invents a brain chip that imbues the implantee with these skills instantly, teachers will need learning experiences to acquire them.

For many schools, large group instruction remains a popular, if not terribly effective, means of teaching teachers how to use technology. Computer boot camps instill at least a passing knowledge of how to turn on the machine, open a program, organize one’s files, and operate a word processor, e-mail program, web browser, and electronic grade book – prerequisite skills for higher end uses of technology. (A list of these basic technology skills can be found at <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/code77-rubrics-beginning.html>.)

As a result of boot-camp style instruction most teachers have acquired the basics of technology use, but staff development models have not changed to reflect the more individualize requirements of specific teaching assignments. Most districts still offer classes to large groups on individual software programs – spreadsheets, databases, web editing, digital still photo and video editing, etc. The offerings tend to be “just in case” the teacher needs to know it.  (Same philosophy my algebra teacher had about solving quadratic equations.) The same classes are offered to elementary teachers, secondary teachers, special education teachers, guidance counselors, and reading specialists without acknowledging the unique goals and technology uses of the individual educator. When considering that a major challenge for every teacher is keeping up with all the changes in education, not just technology, such a scatter-shot, just-in-case approach to tech training is inefficient and ineffective.

The focus of all teacher training must shift from just-in-case to just-in-time - learning only what one needs to know, just when one needs it. The just-in-time model of technology training relies less of district- mandated classes and more on more personal, individual learning opportunities.

Whether individualize or though a class, learning technology should only be a part of a larger professional growth target.  Learning to use a database should be a part of learning to do more effective assessments. Learning to use mind-mapping software such as Inspiration should be a part of learning better writing instruction practices. Learning to more effectively search the Web should be a part of learning to how to improve student research practices. (Other examples can be found at <http://www.doug-johnson.com/dougwri/rubrics-for-restructuring.html) In other words, the focus should be on improving professional practices, not learning to use a computer.

Most educators, including me, are better teachers than students. I’ll confess I have small patience with most classes and workshops whether they are about technology or anything else. Sitting, even for a few hours, listening to a presenter drone on does little for me except help develop a strong empathy for our kids. But if we learn to structure technology training to suit individual adult learning styles and place it within the context of improving educational practices, teachers can and will become “technology-literate” – just in time.