Frustrations

With new technology as well as demands to use more technology, new frustrations naturally follow. Or old frustrations pounded deeper into our experiences. For some in teaching, frustrations revolve around techonology that fails; for example, the practical side of technology in the classroom requires maintenance. Often, rooms with a variety of teachers or after school uses might contain technology simply not plugged in correctly, or cables missing, or the wrong channel set on the VCR for overhead use. Simple, but messy, these problems stop technology use, take time, and frustrate teachers.
So do Apperson scanners as teachers discover incorrectly graded tests. While rare, the error frustrates. Still, teachers continue to use them and look forward to a time when scanning directly into a computer is easy and without. The complaints of such frustration continue to arrive at my metaphorical tech. coach doorstep.
This puts me in a position to reflect. Over the years, I have witnessed much frustration as our district plunged into technology and required many, many changes. At first, the resistance seemed partially due to change, and, at times, to an actual increase in work load rather than decrease. With perseverance, those frustrations receded, as teachers learned more. Coordinated instruction dramatically enabled this, like with the implementation of the DEG. When first released, many "ouched" with frustrations from errors to accessibility to overexposure. However, with training and development, fewer DEG frustations exist and fewer questions and training needs stop teachers from using it.
So there is progress through the frustrations. Still, not enough times exists for all the technology that is suppose to streamline tasks into less time.