ere are some ideas to actually bridge that gap between those that love and those that hate technology in the classroom.
We’re teachers. We like to teach stuff to people, right? So how do we have this huge gap between the tech teachers and the non-tech teachers?
Last week, I wrote a manifesto calling on ed tech teachers to become tech evangelists. But how do we do that? I know that teachers that love technology will talk with others who are equally passionate. Here are some ideas to actually bridge that gap between those that love and those that hate technology in the classroom.
If you can share a resource that makes life easier, non-tech teachers will eventually love it. The trick is to find a resource with a quick learning curve. Dropbox fits this category–“it’s like a flash drive that you don’t have to plug in.” Non-tech teachers get that (ah-hem, prior knowledge!?).
Show non-tech teachers entertaining stuff, and give it an ed tech twist. If they watch the video titled A Magazine is an iPad That Doesn’t Work, they not only laugh, they also see how common place technology is for young people. As they slowly become hooked, feel free to pantomime holding a fishing reel and slowly bring in a fish.
Find some resources that non-tech teachers can watch repeatedly. I recently started Ed Tech Moment with Tim McKean–a series of ed tech tutorials that are five minutes each. Five minutes is not intimidating for a non-tech teacher; it’s an easily consumable knowledge nugget (with bbq sauce (optional)). The best part is that teachers can watch them over and over. Rather than asking you the same question every day for a month, they can watch the same five minute clip every day for a month. (This is also a great strategy to use with your students.)
If you want to share a tech tip, but can’t find it anywhere, use Screenr to make a quick screen capture for your colleague. Feel free to keep it informal and fast-paced. Your non-tech teacher friend can rewind it as many times as needed.
