Tuesday, September 3, 2013

New Beginnings

Today marked a momentous shift in the district I work in. Opening day brought the opportunity for staff to utilize mobile devices during our initial staff meeting of the year. While not playing a huge part in the meeting, harnessing the power of mobile devices signaled a paradigm shift in how these meetings feel.
Many of the benefits that are found when using mobile devices with students hold true when used with staff:


  • Administrators can work smarter, not harder with information that is collected. For example, staff writing is already typed and can be easily transferred into other meaningful documents thus saving vast amount of time spent on clerical tasks.
  • Encouraging mobile devices allows freedom to complete surveys and questionnaires asynchronously and ensures that responses are recorded and read. This created a climate of trust which in turn elevates the substance of whatever topics are being discussed.
Little by little it is becoming more mainstream to use hand held devices with students, but less likely to be used with staff. I am buoyed by the fact that in my district these technologies are beginning to be used with staff. Once teachers and administrators are more comfortable with these techniques and tools it will be more likely that they will use them successfully with students on a broad scale.