Thursday, May 26, 2005

Technology disaster on implementation and a good reminder

I was reminded in a brutal fashion of the cardinal rule of integrating technology into the classroom today! CARDINAL RULE: TEST EVERYTHING FIRST ON THE COMPUTERS THE STUDENTS WILL BE USING BEFORE LETTING THE STUDENTS DO IT!

In this case, I found out too late (i.e. as I was doing it) that the security settings on the student computers were set at a higher level than on the teacher's computer, so when I tried to show them how to set up their own blogs and create their own accounts from the student computers it absolutely would not go past a certain step and just kept showing the same "please log in first screen". By the time I figured out the problem, all the momentum and interest had waned considerably. :( Oh well, I'll try again with them tomorrow, but I was reminded once again that there are steps to take when introducing new techniques or technology!

2 comments:

Strictly Boss said...

I am surprised you forgot to test. Remember the first pictorial blog was lost and you had to enter another. Nevertheless, you have taken a proactive approach to blogging, it is very encouraging. I enjoy learning different information from the links you supply. Thank you

barryb said...

It wasn't that I forgot actually. I got a bit ahead of myself when the students accomplished the task of passing the Internet test faster than I figured they would. I didn't want to interrupt the flow of enthusiasm by taking an extra day so I went ahead and introduced the site. In retrospect, it would have been better to take the extra day.