Not long ago a district administrator announced that she expects to see all classroom and lab computers on and in use any time she visits my campus. The teachers are up in arms! Is this appropriate use of technology?
No, just having a computer on and a student sitting in front of it does not constitute appropriate use. If you're comfortable doing it, you might want to sit down with this person and talk about what she hopes will happen as result of this mandate. You'll probably find that there's more to her expectations than just having the machines turned on. Sharing her perspective with the teachers may make them more amenable as well. Another approach may be to brief her on what she'll be seeing just prior to her next visit, including an explanation about why technology use is appropriate in one instance, but not necessarily in another.
If this administrator regularly visits your campus and seldom sees technology in use, she may simply be expressing her frustration with the situation, particularly if district funds have been used to upgrade the infrastructure.
Submitted by: Susan Brooks-Young
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