I can't tell you how many times an early ed teachers has told me their students were too young to fill-in-the-blank regarding platforms, programs, and devices. I always suggest a pilot period for exploration and learning the new technology. Just as we learned from Sugata Mitra (2013) students have a desire to learn and explore and are often teachers to each other. We don't win everyone over, but most times, teachers learn that their anxieties were more a reflection of their own discomfort than that of the students, as they flourish with their new programs
I am on both sides of the tech evaluation coin. I work with a program that is evaluated by school districts and educators, as well as research groups and studies, both internally and via third party evaluators. My daily work tasks also allow me to evaluate the tools we use internally. We are currently interviewing for a position on my team and one of the questions we ask candidates involves the types of tech tools of they which they are confident or familiar. Depending on their current positions, they often mention both teaching tools that are student facing as well as tools that help them do their daily tasks. I loved the Project Happy Way (2015) approach of drawing our desired new reality. We often talk through what an ideal product, program, schedule, or outcome may be, but drawing it out would be a powerful exercise as well to add to these discussions.
Mitra, S. (2013). Build a school in the cloud [Video]. TED Talks. https://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_build_a_school_in_the_cloud?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=tedspread
ProjectHappyWay. (2015, March 27). Best Ted Talks 2015 - Draw your future - Take control of your life [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vl6wCiUZYc
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