Is edtech the horse, the cart, the tail, or the dog?

In trying to focus my ideas for this posting, I attempted to link technology to one of several tried and true metaphors including: "don't put the cart before the horse", and "don't let the tail wag the dog". In regards to the horse and the cart, it could be argued that technology could be either one. As far as the tail and the dog, that metaphor seems more apropos but I do not feel like extending a cliched metaphor throughout this post so I will just get to the point.

Technology integration in education is currently at a ridiculous level of inconsistency for reasons including:

• Some schools and districts do not have the funding to purchase the necessary technology
• Schools and districts that have the funding have no precedent from which to guide them on what to purchase or how to implement what is purchased.
• Schools are making individual site decisions about implementing BYOD, and when they do, it takes on differing forms when it is executed site-to-site.
• Professional development regarding technology often times seems to be guesswork, at best, due to the infancy of the widespread use of edtech.
• Individual teachers have varying degrees of competency, willingness, time and confidence regarding technology integration.
• School and district policies revolving around edtech are often being made by district personnel and administrators that have not been in the classroom recently, and thus institute misguided policies and purchases related to technology.

To those on the forefront of the edtech movement, these situations come as no surprise. The surprise will come; however, when the reality of common core hits next year in forty-five states. As it is, teachers administering the Smarter Balanced practice test in California, are coming to realizations such as: 4th graders do not know how to type, 6th graders struggle with clicking and dragging, and navigating an online test for three hours on a Chromebook without a mouse and less than optimal screen resolution is a task in and of itself 

Additionally, addressing the elephant in the room as to whether most schools will have the proper technology and data infrastructure to support the transition to online testing, how might teachers' own uncertainties exacerbate test anxiety that already plagues far too many students?

Aside from the mandated testing aspect, the day-to-day reality of meaningful technology implementation is equally as concerning. A simple example to illustrate this issue is the reliance, usually out of necessity, on traditional paper and pen assignments. The vast majority of professionals, and probably people in general, do not read or write with pen and paper, yet that still seems to be the standard format in high school classrooms, based on personal anecdotal information and observations.

Information is now dynamic and intertwined. At this point, when students are not creating digital works of writing with engaging visuals, and relevant links to additional resources then we are preparing them for the past more so than the future.

With that being said, the job of a technology coach is much more pressing and of significantly greater scope than it initially appears. Coaching peers on technology integration and preparing them for the future of education can only truly happen if we can find effective ways to become facilitators in getting all stakeholders to buy into a common vision and realization of what lies ominously ahead. 

In revisiting my initial idea, and in the spirit of a good old-fashioned mixed metaphor, edtech appears to be a dog being wagged by its tail while chasing a horse behind its cart in the Wild Wild West with a tornado fast approaching. With that understanding it is the duty of technology coaches to play the part of Paul Revere in sounding the warning far and wide, so that educators and the personnel that supports them from above can at the very least have the storm on their respective radars.

Thanks for reading. Follow me on Twitter @mrtessier33