Ed Norman is alive and well in my district. We have a network that has such strict firewalls that it is nearly impossible to find any really good web sites. If there is a particular website that I need for a lesson, I need to give it to my administrator and wait for them to send it to IT, by the time I get clearance, I have already completed the lesson. So many times, I just skip the website and find one that may not be as good, but I have access to right away. It's a shame the restrictions we have within an educational setting. I understand the concern of misuse of the Internet, but as a professional I believe I deserve a little more leeway. As a teacher who uses the computers regularly in my classroom, I think that it is my responsibility to train my students well as far as acceptable us and monitor their usage. I know many teachers do not want to be bothered with this task, so they don't mind the endless firewalls. I do believe that firewalls are important, but when you use it to the extreme, it becomes a
nuisance.
I can not say that my site's IT guy is considered an Ed Norman, he is the exact opposite. He does whatever he can to help install the software that I need within my classroom.
My Ed Norman would possibly my administrators. They know what is needed for our students to be successful with technology in the classroom, but technology is not the focus. Therefore money is not allocated to enhance it. This is what I find to be my biggest problem. I can find time to have the software installed, be trained on it, and then train my students, but I do not have the funds necessary to purchase the programs.
1 comment:
It can be tough to be in this kind of position. You have pointed out the obvious, your computers are not being used as effectively as they could be. That means the money spent on them is wasted. That is a bummer.
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