Cutting Edge versus Bleeding Edge Technology Adoption

As a rule, I definitely wouldn't consider myself a "BANDWAGON" technology adopter- those are the ones that are using new resources blazing the trail for educators like myself that would rather consider technology use after others can give me feedback and suggestions. Why am I that way?

1. Time. There is never enough time in the day to get the things done I want to get done, much less the things I am curious about. Cutting edge technology comes with kinks and bugs. That takes time. 
2. Limited Resources. My budget for innovation isn't very big so therefore I am not going to spend it on non-proven products/tools. I want to make sure I am going to get a bang for my school's buck. 
3. Cautionary Nature. As a rule, I tend to want to make sure there are no unforeseen issues regarding adoption of technology. I prefer allowing someone else to jump off the bridge first while I watch to see if they sink or swim. It's my nature.  

All the above being said I believe it is fair to say that I stepped out my usual mold when it comes to voice user interface. In 2016 when Alexa first entered the market I immediately took it to a teachers classroom for a brief "trial" to consider the potential. I imagined this being a useful tool but I didn't truly decide to jump in until the Echo Dot Kids Edition hit the market. I liked the fact that with FreeTime, Alexa wouldn't have adult conversations with our students. I was ready to try! I reached out to many people in the VoiceFirst industry and was blessed by being given 5 Echo Dot Kids Editions and 5 remotes to pilot at our school. 

Here is what I can tell you today, bleeding edge adoption is a lot easier than cutting edge but I have enjoyed the challenge and nature of riding the wave into classrooms regarding Echo Dot Kids Edition in the classroom. Starting in August, I didn't know you couldn't use blueprints with the Kids Edition, I didn't know you had only use kids-labeled skills for this device unless you enable it in FreeTime and even then it may or may not show up in FreeTime for you to enable it. 

Cutting edge means quirky, disappointing, time consuming, and ever-changing. It means hours on the phone with developers. It means teachers feeling so frustrated that they want to quit. So for me, as an instructional technologist, it also means taking the lead in trying new things and handing the product over to the teachers. It means staying informed. It means questioning. It means suggesting. It means trial and error. It means time; finding that time, being intentional with that time, and growing from taking that time. 

So I say this, if you are going to choose to be a cutting edge adopter versus a bleeding edge adopter (where many of the why's and how's have already been answered) then make sure you believe in the product or tool's value and potential. If you don't, you will want to give up or take the easy route of waiting it out until someone else finds all the answers. I don't want that. I believe so strongly in the value of Alexa in the classroom that I am willing to be the evangelist for its classroom use in a world screaming all the reasons why it shouldn't be. I am willing to put safeguards up and wait out some awesome capabilities until it works within the parameters that equal safety. I am willing to blaze forward using critical thinking to creates opportunities for our students while still waiting for the technology to adapt to the true classroom needs. 

Being a cutting edge adopter means adopting with limitations. It means encouraging those that are on board with you. It means trying that thing again...a different way...failing...trying again. This experience has been good for me because it not only has pulled me out of my norm but also has pushed me in the area of a growth mindset and sticking to my learning goals. All the things I want for the teachers I serve and the students we teach. This process has honed me as an educator to be mindful of all the moving parts that come with learning. My one word for 2019 has been "resolve." This project alone has helped me to live that word out loud as well as to model it to others. 

2019 One Word: Resolve

Sometimes my career feels like a battle. As an instructional technologist, I don't feel like my role has ever just been trying to help willing teachers integrate technology but also to be an evangelist or even prophet about the future of education and the impact technology can have. About this time every year,  I begin to feel a wee bit weary. I feel fatigued from having to defend educational technology which is always odd to me that this has become part of who I am.

I look back over the past few years and see a theme:
2015's one word was "Let's"
2016's one word was "Beta"
2017's one word was "Brave"
2018's one word was "Perspective"

This year as I tried to decide which one word to choose to help me as a professional, I found myself feeling less joy about what I do because of the weariness of having the same old conversations year, after year, after year. Every year, choosing one word in January gives me a sense of where I have been during this school year and a focus on where I want to be at the end of May.

So this year my one word is RESOLVE. After a year of diligently trying to look at and balance perspectives of others, I am ready to own who I am. I am an instructional technologist who currently is in the role of Director of Instructional Technology and Innovation. This year I am resolved to stand firm in sharing the virtues of educational technology with the educators, students, and parents that I come in contact with day in and day out. For me, this means that I will stand firm in touting the importance of students having the skills that support the ISTE Standards for Students for their futures.

I have been toying with the one word, "Resolve", for a few days now. This morning I felt affirmed in that word as we read the scripture from Mark 6: 1-4 in church:

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples.2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,[a] Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5 He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Now, I'm no Jesus but these words resonated deep within me this morning. Jesus's own family and friends in his own hometown didn't believe in him and the things he was sharing. One of the hardest things about my role is that I am often asked to speak at other schools and educational conferences but my fellow educators in the school I've been at for 15 years push back the hardest. My insecurities imagine what they say "Who is she? She was just an elementary computer teacher?" "How could she possibly think she could tell me better ways to teach my class?" "She knows nothing about my subject matter." None of those things have been said to me, mind you. Then my pride gets in the way and I'm convinced I do know best sometimes (hence the chosen word "perspective" last year to make sure I was being balanced.) 

But here I am today choosing "resolve," not to push my ways on others but to stand firm on believing I have an important role at my school to be an evangelist and prophet about the future possibilities of education. My prayer is that just like Jesus in the scriptures we read this morning, I can do it with humility (this was his second time to go to his hometown and try to reach them). I want to have the resolve to bravely share concepts and ideas based on what I have learned might be helpful regarding technology integration.

What will this look like immediately?

• Explaining the analytics data of digital testing inside Canvas and how it can benefit or students and teachers when creating assessments.
• Explaining how we are in an era that has never been before: we can now have immediate feedback after a lesson and adjust our teaching to that feedback to best meet our student needs.
• Harking the benefits of rubric-based assessing so that students can share their learning in ways other than a paper/pencil/digital assessment of questions.
• Explaining that Canvas is a learning management system that our school can "grow into"  as we consider mastery paths and learning outcomes associated with our questioning of students.