Avoid THE Dilemma

As technology integration becomes a hotter topic with public school districts a common dilemma may start to arise: a lack of analysis and evaluative practice. It's not enough for a school to use tech - they need to use it effectively. Let's look at a school called XYZ that made this mistake. What happened to make this school's tech plan spiral down the drain so quickly?

The root cause of this crisis is not just a lack of data, but a lack of collecting and presenting a solid body of evidence. Anecdotal evidence can be a powerful tool for supporting the need for technology in the classroom. However, one failure here is that such evidence was not collected or presented before requesting an increase in technology. Another failure along the same vein here is that data-based evidence was also not collected alongside anecdotal evidence nor was it presented either as a result. While the school board chose test scores as their intended data point to frame their argument, the school didn't necessarily have to gather test score data to frame a convincing argument to keep or increase tech use. In fact, attendance data can sometimes tell a good story, too. For instance, if low performing students that habitually missed class in the past were now showing up when tech started to be used more, an argument could be made that access to education and motivation were being increased. Another example could show that a teacher has decreased the number of days in class teaching content because of instructional videos and increased the number of days that they are engaging students in real world projects and their community. Collecting specific anecdotes, pairing it with evidence that matches the story, and framing it in a presentation as a body of evidence for why it is needed or why more of it is needed is what really needed to happen here.

However, it is not too late to collect, analyze, and frame data alongside teacher anecdotes, especially since the school has not yet asked he board (or been denied yet) for an increase in technology. The key lies being very intentional about what types of data they collect and how they frame it. It is not hard to go back through other types of data and see if there are other positive correlations to be made from the data. However, with whatever data they use, they need to be careful about not being too general with their framing. They need to make sure that they provide specific evidence and learning outcomes that were reached as a result of the tech use. After taking a week or two to regroup to collect anecdotes, do some data analysis, and drafting a presentation of their solid body of evidence, they can present it the board for reconsideration.

So be careful! Know what you're up against and put in supports to avoid dilemmas such as these.