On a recent weekend I spent eight hours at home “off the clock” updating and syncing iPod Touch devices for one of the elementary schools I serve. This is not a task that I can complete at the school as I have appointments and other responsibilities scheduled during my one day of the week at this location. In addition there are bandwidth and infrastructure constraints which make downloading and updating nearly impossible on site. When I attempt it, the connection times out, can’t be made, or generates an error.
Being an ITRT in my school division poses unique challenges. ITRTs balance both instructional and technical responsibilities and tasks. The main job of the ITRT is to provide training for teachers on the integration of technology into classroom instruction and on the use of administrative applications. On the other hand the ITRTs handle technical problems as well. Each ITRT is paired with a technician, and together the two serve the instructional and technical needs of three to four schools. ITRTs work with technicians to prioritize and complete technology work orders as needed. Personally I enjoy the technical aspects of the job.
The technical/instructional issue has reared its head recently as a result of the numerous iPod Touch and iPads being purchased and implemented in the division. As anyone who has worked with an iDevice knows, they require a good bit of time to maintain, sync, and update. Even with the Bretford carts/cases, time is still a major factor. If an OS update is needed, you can expect about one hour per device to update, and it’s a “one-at-a-time” undertaking.
So here is my question. Who should be assigned the task of updating, maintaining, and syncing the iPod Touches and iPads? Should this responsibility fall to the ITRT who can also work with the teacher to suggest apps and ways to integrate the devices in the classroom? Should this be the job of the technician who addresses all things technical anyway? Should teachers be trained to manage the devices themselves since they will be the ones using the equipment day in and day out or is this too time consuming to ask of educators? I’m very interested in your thoughts and advice as my division moves forward. Thanks!
IMHO I believe the classroom teacher should at least sync the iPods. and maybe update as well. They shoud sync to keep them aware of what app they have and organize them in a way that makes sense to them. When the teachers are resposible for this, they are more familiar with the whole package and gain a more complete understanding. As to updating the software, if they have six or less, and access to the computer to perform the updates, they may want to be responsible for this as well but will likely need help or at least advise from the ITRT. This process takes time, which they do not have, and it is not essential to do every update. The ITRT may be better able to oversee the updating if they have the time or at least do what they can for one or two and make sure the teacher understands how to complete the rest. If there are more than six, I would like to see the technician involved and maybe once every grading period, reserve the iPods for a few days to perform the required updates.
ReplyDeleteThe more familiar the teacher becomes with the over all function and requirements for maintaining the iPods the more comfortable they will become and more able they are to handle small and large problems that will occur with their students.