New Technologies-To adopt or not to adopt?

As grade level chairperson/team leader of 2nd grade, I have been blessed to have the “platform” to introduce new technologies during the grade level meetings. However, as these new technologies have been introduced in our school, they are almost always met with some resistant. One of these technologies was the Mimio Interactive, which transformed all of our whiteboards into interactive technology tools. While initially there was a lot of excitement (during training) as week one and two of the adoption came to an end, teachers were resisting using the technology, and many were asked to return their unused equipment. Teachers acted like their teaching instruction was good enough, without the use of the Mimio, and acted like they did not want to be “bothered” with learning how to use it in the classroom. These teachers either left their Mimio Interactive in the box, or returned it. When it was introduced to my grade level, there were complaints of teachers always being given “new tools” to learn and use, and we’re already overwhelmed. Teachers stated they did not have enough time to learn how to manipulate something new. The negative attitudes were overwhelming, and initially, only a couple classrooms were using the Mimio Interactive. 

Now, Mimio Interactive is a very popular technology tool, with almost every teacher using it. After reading Keller’s ARCS model, it is easy to see why eventually the Mimio Interactive was eventually adopted effectively. Teachers attention was gained when the teachers who were effectively using the Mimios modeled how to use it, and invited teachers to actively participate. These presenters posed questions, and answered them, gave specific examples of how the Mimio Interactive can be used to help the teachers become more effective, and make learning more engaging. Next, these instructors showed how relevant it was to second grade by showing free Mimio Connect programs that directly supported our county’s AKS. As I stated above, the teachers modeled how to use the Mimio, which supports Keller’s, “be what you want them to do!” statement. 

Confidence was easily built up, once the Mimio Interactive “ball” started rolling, because the teachers who were using the Mimios offered their unwavering support and time in helping new adopters utilize the Mimio effectively. This helped teacher’s confidence in using the Mimio grow, and they were using it more and more. At team meetings we would discuss new programs we discovered to use with the Mimio Interactive, which encouraged people to use it more, which led to their confidence increasing. 

Satisfaction came from seeing the looks on our students faces, and excitement for learning, while using the Mimio. Students gave us the automatic feedback by begging teachers to please use it more, because learning was so fun! Teachers found that using the Mimio made teaching more rewarding and satisfying than ever before. Students were more motivated to learn, even choosing to learn with the Mimio over recess. Now, if that is not satisfaction, I don’t know what is. 

Reference: 

Driscoll, M. P. (2005). Psychology of learning for instruction (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.