Barriers

**Group A**
o Traditions/required subject matter. o Other teachers not inspired/motivated. o Time is an impediment to think, to learn, to share. o When adding, there’s a need to remove – choosing what to remove. o Learning how to use personal strengths in new ways. o Appropriateness for el. Ed. o No requirement on teachers. o No time in class to explore and go deeper. o Balance content, tools and process. o Getting outside our comfort box. o Lack of accessibility to laptops or lab. o Skepticism – it’s all changing anyway. o Being willing to be uncomfortable. o Parents and teachers are resistant to change. o Change stops faculty. o Equipment. o Teachers are afraid to fail, to know less than kids.

**Group B**
o Help teachers realize they can save time by doing things in a new way. o Lack of equipment – especially user-friendly equipment (want it to be used). o Lack of time for faculty to learn this – have to devote nights, weekends. o Pedagogy – Many old ideas are still good. People wonder if 21st century skills are good, too, but these skills have been thought about for a long time. o Misunderstanding – How old and new complement each other. o Being strong in 21st century (speed) – losing opportunities. o Too many people don’t know/assume that “new tech is a better way to engage students with content and provide a deeper learning experience than traditional methods.” o College focus distracts students and parents. o So many ideas can be overwhelming. o Every step of teaching new tools takes time…pushback from admin can be disheartening. o Having energy to start something and not wanting to tell/criticize people that they’re “doing things wrong.” o Presenting new ideas in a way that encourages people to adopt new and let go of some old…making room. o Timing it – Only up in beginning. A year, not end. o Setting up accounts, familiarizing students with tools (not same as FB) – have to pick and choose a couple digital projects. o Web 2.0 tools fluid – changing – hard to know what to choose and invest time in. o Fitting into curriculum. Make teachers see integrating, not recess. Throwing out other things. o Teacher morale gets covered without admin enthusiasm. o The vision of our teachers not seeing this as burden but a new spin, an enhancement – making lessons easier for kids to understand. Tools, not burdens. o Don’t be afraid to say “I might not be doing this next year” – must be flexible. o Must be willing to make room for new opportunities. o 21st century demands flexibility, constant change. o How do we bend thinking without breaking minds? It’s a person-to-person barrier. o Some people are slower to change. Celebrate the good about teachers to get them on board while gently pushing forward, sharing ideas. o There’s no one-size-fits-all. Lots of listening and quarrel reactions (seeing how people respond). o Don’t see “difficult” people as barriers – just nurture people in their own way. o Love professional development because you love teaching and want to learn to be a better teacher. o Having agenda already set puts off tteachers. Let them choose what they want to learn to be more amiable to learning it. o Teachers must also see themselves as learners (even if learning new material is just for the short term).

**Group C**
o Lack of resources. Not enough computers, projectors, for teachers and ks o Developing a plan is a challenge when resources are lacking. o Overarching yet well-thought out plan is difficult. o Time. When to fit in the investigation of the tools. o The need for really cohesive curriculum mapping. o The need for a shift in thinking that technology is a “separate” subject. Needs to be collaborative between tech. experts and content experts. o How to shift the ideology about what a classroom should “look like”. o Follow-through with using “tools” when other competing pressures o Hard to catch up with other team members. o Lack of knowledge of parents and faculty. Fear and “heel-digging.” o Parental range of responses. Some enthusiastic while others fearful. o Paradox between feeling that you’re in a community, but its virtual. And a sense of isolation within the school itself. o Finding the most effective way to present this to other teachers. o Emotional component to learning the tools. Both ends of the spectrum. Folks who are elitist maybe o Tool vs. transformational change o Re-awaken the faculty in the desire to learn in faculty who feel competent in their areas to the “unsure” footing of new technologies. o Shift in pedagogy is challenging if you are a technical expert and the faculty think that some experts are not “real” in their understanding. Trust. o Developing a plan is a challenge when resources are lacking.

**Group D**
o Lack of hardware/computer accessibility. o Having the parents on board. o Senior teachers on their way out and aren't willing to change. o Lack of wanting to change things that have worked for years "why change?" o Policies that prevent access (i.e. social networking, CIPA - too many filters). o Assuming that teachers know how to do this b/c they are "good teachers.” o Lack of willingness to change. o People not being open new opportunities. o Time (personal & professional). o Lack of defining outcomes for students. o Change is hard, so despite seeing value, there is resistant. o Fear of trying something new. o Fear of dangers that exist (violation to AUP, internet safety). o Thinking about using technology as something separate in the curriculum as opposed to being parallel/integrated. o People not understanding the layering aspect.....these tools don't go on top of everything else but enhance what you are already doing. o Digital divide/we know these tools and are familiar with them but that can separate us from our faculty who aren't aware.....it can be intimidating to those outside the cohort. o Afraid of letting the kids "loose" (i.e using YouTube, Facebook, etc.). o Fear of failure. o Fear of losing members of school community as a result of change. o Variety of voices needed to motivate faculty. o Administration must model these behaviors. o Have buy in, but lack of committment or follow through. o Getting everyone involved in shared vision (students, teachers, parents, admin, etc.). o The pace of change and trying to keep up or keep ahead. o The change is too huge. o Transparency of being virtual brings fear.

**Group E**
o Administrator buy in - can’t do it without support- very researched based school and need research to prove that it will make teachers better- there is data, but it is all happening so fast- mindset of the school makes it hard for the administrators to support if there’s not the research there o Teachers and admin are used to the way they did it, and they aren’t challenging the status quo o Time is a huge issue o Math/chemistry- working with numbers and equations- and it’s easier to do it on paper with pencil o Finding time to navigate through all the new tools- do it on own first o Time- fun to learn and play with tools, but it takes many evenings and mornings- exciting and good for brain, but how do you make other teachers excited about this? Crafting the next step- the barrier is time and giving a structure/process for implementing with other teachers o Small school with small budget- infrastructure barriers o Teachers who buy in right away and how to deal with the other group and pull them forward o Finding time o Administrators know that tech is important, but what is the realistic level of administrative support so faculty can move forward- how to give time, resources, support to make the initiative go forward o Admin support, time, changing school culture to that of teachers as learners o Understanding that this is not about the technology, coming from tech folks- this is about developing better teachers o Independent school culture- the teachers are independent and this doesn’t create a collaborative environment o How technology comes into schools- initial financial outlays= top down decisions- now we have stuff and need to behave in a network way o It is hard for individual teachers to put a differing point of view on a Ning, etc., - how do we get people to take risks- teachers tend to be risk adverse- what is consequence of taking the risk= failing in front of students or having parents be upset if you don’t know the new tools well enough o Maybe there doesn’t have to be a huge shift right away- Web 2.0 is evolving, so maybe we can let it happen little by little o How to reach the middle- you have self starters but how to capture those in the middle o Accountability o Schedule- 45 minute blocks inhibits using web 2.0 and teacher’s learning