The vice principal of a school I was working with in Mexico made a very interesting comment: "What many teachers are reaching for but can’t quite grasp in practice is this idea of a transformation of our classrooms to the future.  Personally, I find that information sources from Apple or TedTalks often do a great job of giving us that vision, but the steps to get there are tough… those practical steps of how to get there." 

         Part of the problem is that  you have two tiers of teachers when it comes to technology.  First, there are the tech geeks.  Some of them may be in the classroom, but many of them are out of the classroom and in charge of implementing technology in the classroom. These teachers have certain traits:

1. They are easily wowed.  They go to ISTE or EduCon and get seriously excited. 

2.  They love all the new toys.  They are in line for the new iPhone or Android, and they must have Kindles and iPads.

3.  They try everything.  If you mention blogs, they will start one. If you mention wikis, they will make one. (At the extreme, I met a woman who told me she loved wikis so much that she had created more wikis than anyone at wikispaces and was their number one user.)

4.  They emphasize wow over why.  They can get so wrapped up in the coolness of the new thing, they can forget to ask if how they are using it supports any valuable learning goal.

5.  They are blind to how the non-tech person sees the world.  They can’t imagine why all teachers aren’t on board and they are impatient with those not in the club.  I heard one tech teacher remark, “Well they [the teachers reluctant to use tech] are just going to have to get with it!”

         On the other hand, you have the reluctant adopters. 

1.  They are easily overwhelmed.  They see all the new stuff and think there is no way to keep up.

2.  They are not toy oriented.  They have a cell phone to make calls and see no use for a smartphone.  They would rather hold a book than a Kindle. 

3.  They try nothing unless someone is guiding them slowly and carefully step by step.

4.  They only see the problems: it is hard to get computer lab time; some laptops on the cart aren’t charged up and buttons are missing and some froze up; sometimes the website doesn’t load…

5.  They already have lesson plans for teaching [insert any topic here] and don’t see why a tried and true lesson should be changed.  The kids get enough of the tech stuff at home.

         I think the tech geeks (TGs) may be 15% of the teachers and the reluctant adopters (RAs) have the other 85%.  So in 2010, most classrooms look like they did in, oh, I don’t know… 2000? 1970?  1950? 

         The TGs have not been effective at communicating with the RAs.  The lessons and tools that wowed the TGs do not wow the RAs.  The stuff that the TGs pick up quickly is very difficult for the RAs to pick up.  RAs are often put off by the TGs.  TGs have the vision but often not the ability to translate that vision to those who don’t see the world the same way.  And so we get the comments like the one from Guadalajara.

         You have to find translators.  Find someone to calm down the TGs and teach them to be more sensitive to the very real issues the RAs see.  Find someone to hold the hands of the RAs and work with them rather than present to them.  Spend more time on “those practical steps of how to get there” and less time introducing new stuff.  Figure out how to bridge the gap between TGs and RAs so our classrooms can finally get into the 21^st century.

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