Two years ago, a district I know well decided to invest in tablets and laptops for everyone. Due to a variety of factors (such as locking down the machines so that teachers/admin couldn’t install their homes’ printer drivers or install cable modem drivers) early on, the initiative stalled and failed. It failed because people had been accustomed to a greater degree of freedom than before. When the new computers came in locked up by software solutions like Active Directory/SMS, they threw up their hands and left the laptops in their respective carts.

In the Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), users of any innovation go through multiple stages of concern, such as those shown below:

For those who know what the technology is (e.g. Tablet), they immediately start exploring how it works and how it can impact them. Then, they hit a stone wall with strictly controlled active directory/deep freeze, and they skip the rest of the stages.

David Jakes in TechLearning.com’s blog entitled Tablet Schmablet bemoans the fact that a 21st Century tools is being applied to old school teaching. And, that’s certainly true in all the examples he shows. but, could it be possible that these are only the first stages a teacher goes through? That maybe the marketers and sales-people recognize that responding to the question, “How does this impact me?” is all about these simple uses.

I’ve lamented the fact that getting teachers to level 4 of the Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) is extremely difficult. In fact, I have rarely seen it. Our classrooms just don’t seem able to achieve LOTI 4, the STaR Chart Target Technology level. However, communication is the lowest common denominator. Can we see how exciting, how powerful blogging is as a way to publish student work easily?

Like David, I am skeptical of pie in the sky solutions. If it doesn’t make for a substantive change, then it’s probably just a waste of money…except that having enough access to it may enable students and teachers to move up the levels of use, past the stages of concern. If we can reach collaboration while at the same time dealing with the how does this impact me (e.g. blogs), then change MAY take place. Is it worth the investment? I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think so…but do legislators agree?

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure