Some variation of that announcement has haunted Fairfield at least once a week since we opened our doors. The more we depend on computers, the more fully we understand how important it is that the system be up and running all the time. The inconvenience of being unable to mark attendance or enter grades is frustrating in small doses. This, coupled with teachers not being able to access word processing, the Internet, CD-ROMs, and countless other programs that run from the main fileserver, creates anger, indignation, and righteous skepticism. Part of the reason some of my colleagues have been slow to jump on the technology bandwagon is that the wagon is so often sunk in the mud of technological glitches.
Technology is temperamental.
There are computer specialists at the district offices who troubleshoot for us, but it takes a while for them to get to our building. The longer teachers are deprived of the hailed technology that will make their lives so much easier, the less likely they are to buy into it with the passion the superintendent, the governor, and the President so desire. She also happens to be the most technophobic member of our faculty. I felt successful in my job as a trainer because I saw her attitude towards the technology change when she saw what it could do for her. The following Wednesday, I was in the middle of a lesson on persuasive writing when Calliene burst into my room, near tears.