Chapter 4

Chapter 4 lays out some of the issues with the adoption of new technologies.  Problems from student misbehaviour and cheating hit hardest during the initial stage of entry.  Further issues from environmental concerns and software conflicts can really cause problems in that initial stage.  This further combines with the attitudes during entry stage and make it very difficult to adapt to.

            Fortunately, by stage 2 adoption the teacher becomes familiar enough with the technology to adapt to begin adapting to these new issues.  As these issues get overcome the teachers begin to see the direct uses of having the technology in the classroom.  The efficiency in combining databases for instance was a huge gain for a teacher.  Another commented on how quickly the existing technology is maxed out resulting in queues for popular machines and filled hard drives.  It never seems like enough.

            By stage 3 the teachers are actively using the technology to better solve general problems in the classroom.  The technology no longer serves as a source of problems, but instead helps reduce pre-existing issues.  The new technology allowed grading and education plans to become much simpler.  In addition, it became easier to use approaches that minimize cheating.  On top of that the technology allows the teachers to easily access information from broader sources to help improve teaching style and results.

            I liked the direction of this chapter.  It addressed issues that anyone having to employ new technology would run into.  In the times before we master a technology there is a power vacuum that allows all sorts of negative consequences to carry more weight than we are comfortable with.  I liked how the chapter acknowledges this and then shows that with a little time and effort the investment can pay off by ultimately countering those effects in the technology and possibly work against them further to keep misbehaviour and cheating down even more effectively.