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| Photograph By: Deborah Sanders |
Working in a building that was built in 1929 brings its own variety of archaic infrastructure problems. The black boards and the chalk used were normal. As a classroom teacher who was striving to integrate technology within my class lessons, there were several avenues I had to cross in order to accomplish this
dilemma. From 2001 to 2008 there was only one projector in the building and everyone had to share that one with the computer room. Waiting for that one piece of equipment to be available for my use, was even more frustrating. 1n 2006 I received a “heads-up” from a teacher associate that there was a sale going on at Radio Shack for Cinego Home Theater System projectors. I purchased this system in order to make some of my technology dreams for my classroom come true. I really thought I was doing something -- I was now able to show a PowerPoint presentation as an anticipatory set to introduce or work through a lesson.. At the time this was a big deal for me!
dilemma. From 2001 to 2008 there was only one projector in the building and everyone had to share that one with the computer room. Waiting for that one piece of equipment to be available for my use, was even more frustrating. 1n 2006 I received a “heads-up” from a teacher associate that there was a sale going on at Radio Shack for Cinego Home Theater System projectors. I purchased this system in order to make some of my technology dreams for my classroom come true. I really thought I was doing something -- I was now able to show a PowerPoint presentation as an anticipatory set to introduce or work through a lesson.. At the time this was a big deal for me!
Slowly, the building acquired 4 new Macs for classroom centers with an additional one for each teacher’s desk in the school. In some classes the Macs were covered with cloth due to some teachers’ inability to operate a computer and with others, there was no available time for training. Eventually the school moved to another building that came with a brand new set of malfunctions. During this interim period, technology took another backseat while the malfunctions were addressed. As the thought of a new building came and went -- so did I. I am now in a brand new building with surround sound connections, but I am without remote accessibility. In addition, I have to bring in my own laptop in order to use the overhead projector. Picture me, in a brand new building standing on a chair using a yardstick to turn the overhead projector on and off. Two weeks ago the new building just received two smart-boards and 2 smart-tables. Progress is slow, and most importantly the factor that needs to be changed is -- teacher training is even slower.
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