In the 1990's, our building Technology Assistance Teams (TATs) thrived. They received laptops, training and were involved with bringing technology use into the schools. In the past few years, numerous outside factors contributed to the demise of TATs, namely time and importance. Administrators focused on the basics of curriculum areas and integrating technology into those areas fell behind. It was left up to individuals in individual buildings to keep that strong. That is not enough to maintain momentum in our district.
So now we are in the process of breathing life into the old beast. One idea that we are using is Blogger. For most buildings, those involved in TAT are good teachers who are naturally involved in many other curriculum groups. Needless to say, finding a time for 5-10 of them to meet is like trying to stuff a state fair watermelon into a milk jug. So, to be able to communicate with everyone and not clog up email boxes, we are posting items that need to be communicated and best practices to be reviewed on the blog. Viewing is limited to the individuals we invite (i.e., TAT members and administrators), but they also have authoring permissions. If they do not already have a Gmail account, they are prompted to create one through the email that Blogger sends out. Those registered can utilize Google Reader to keep up to date so they don't have to continually go back to the website.
If you have any "cool" suggestions for this process, please drop in a comment or two. All of us here at the Tech Fridge would love for you to share your condiments!
1 comment:
Hey there...I think that this is a good solution to keep our TAT team in communication with all of our busy schedules. I also believe that professional development will be improved by enabling us to discuss what needs there are in our building efficiently. We stick to the topic better with the blog.
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