Teacher training - what fundamental skills should be expected from a teacher

[Ditto]

Number 1 - this is NOT a teacher bashing post so please don't make it one. The vast majority are extremely dedicated, work hard and deserve respect.

 

As a spin off from another thread that discussed the fact a teacher wasn't able to teach pupils how to store documents, I pondered whether some of the issues lie in teacher training. It then got me thinking what are the minimum skills that we should expect from teachers.

 

I'm no expert on teacher training, but I believe you require a degree nowadays to teach. I know there a a few options then to achieve QTS. I had a very brief look for teacher training curricula to see if it give insight - here's one for Initial Teacher Training

 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/974307/ITT_core_content_framework_.pdf

 

It doesn't give me assurance that IT skills are covered, but wouldn't it be required for a degree anyway? A search of this document for "computing", "technology" or "internet" give no meaningful results - in fact "technology" and "internet" are complete absent. Maybe that's fine, or perhaps it shows it's not current with the world in which we operate today?

 

For me, I would expect all teachers to have:

 

 

• basic IT skills, in much the same way a reading, writing and numeracy skills
  
• high levels of knowledge around safe-guarding
  
• basic health and safety skills
  

 

The remainder I would expect to be about the methods of teaching(pedagogy if you prefer), classroom management and subject knowledge.

 

Is that too simplistic? What would you add?

[3s-gtech]

Excellent speaking and *listening* skills (factoring in disabilities that may affect this)

Empathy (can that be trained?)

Excellent reading and writing skills (again, factoring in relevant disabilities like dyslexia)

A willingness to continually learn and upskill

Be a proactive communicator

[hardtailstar]

Good communicator to pupils and staff.

Good Listener to pupils and staff.

Empathy

Calmness

Willingness to learn and adapt skills

Understanding of why 'no' is said and accept an alternative if possible

Polite

Team player

Understanding basics of using a laptop/computer

Proactiveness

Good Organisational skills

 

All these skills could be used in any job really.

[DrBeaker]

In 2022 .... basic computer skills.

 

1) i.e. I mean not having you ask me "how do I do that?" when I ask you to 'maximise that window'. It's 2022. Not 2002 anymore. Leave the rest of the IT and techie stuff to us, we know what we're doing.

2) We're there to empower you to do your job better, with more reliable, robust and faster IT systems. NOT to do your job for you. It's very often misunderstood by a lot of educational people.

 

Everything else they can learn to their own needs.

Edited January 12, 2022 by DrBeaker
Typo

[stevejp]

I can’t argue with the above. However, the teaching profession (like any other) consists of people of different ages and at different stages of their career.I think I’ve probably said this before somewhere on here, but it probably bears repeating.

 

When I was doing my B.Ed, laptops didn’t exist. The only computers in the entire place were in a locked room in the maths department, and only maths students were allowed anywhere near them. The nearest thing to technology that I came across was a few minutes playing with a new-fangled gadget called a video camera, and a synthesiser in the music department.

 

When I began teaching, as the only teacher under the age of 40, I was told that the only computer in the place was to go in my classroom. It was a BBC B, with one word-processing program on a cassette tape drive and a logo chip. I progressed from chalkboard to whiteboard in 2003, had the first projector in the school in (I think) 2005, and first encountered an IWB circa 2009.

 

The point I’m trying to make is that in all that time, the training that I had in these technologies was minimal, if there was any at all. I could, and did (up to a point) teach myself, but we had no technician in school, so no one with any technical knowledge to guide or ask for help.

 

Yes, I know that is the same for many industries/ professions. But for teachers, there is no opportunity or expectation to be anything other than an instant expert. That class of kids needs teaching NOW, regardless of the competence or understanding in technologies of the person standing in front of them - and when you come in after half-term to find out that your ‘ordinary’ whiteboard has gone, and the only thing you have to work with is this new-fangled IWB (yes, that is exactly what happened), is there any wonder that some staff panic and ‘shut down’? There is very little time or opportunity to get to know how things work, or the ins and outs and tricks.

 

I’ve just back what I’ve written, and it sounds as though I’m making excuses, or pleading a special case. I’m not, but I just wanted to articulate the ‘other’ point of view.

Edited January 12, 2022 by stevejp

[DrBeaker]

I can’t argue with the above. However, the teaching profession (like any other) consists of people of different ages and at different stages of their career.I think I’ve probably said this before somewhere on here, but it probably bears repeating.

 

When I was doing my B.Ed, laptops didn’t exist. The only computers in the entire place were in a locked room in the maths department, and only maths students were allowed anywhere near them. The nearest thing to technology that I came across was a few minutes playing with a new-fangled gadget called a video camera, and a synthesiser in the music department.

 

When I began teaching, as the only teacher under the age of 40, I was told that the only computer in the place was to go in my classroom. It was a BBC B, with one word-processing program on a cassette tape drive and a logo chip. I progressed from chalkboard to whiteboard in 2003, had the first projector in the school in (I think) 2005, and first encountered an IWB circa 2009.

 

The point I’m trying to make is that in all that time, the training that I had in these technologies was minimal, if there was any at all. I could, and did (up to a point) teach myself, but we had no technician in school, so no one with any technical knowledge to guide or ask for help.

 

Yes, I know that is the same for many industries/ professions. But for teachers, there is no opportunity or expectation to be anything other than an instant expert. That class of kids needs teaching NOW, regardless of the competence or understanding in technologies of the person standing in front of them - and when you come in after half-term to find out that your ‘ordinary’ whiteboard has gone, and the only thing you have to work with is this new-fangled IWB (yes, that is exactly what happened), is there any wonder that some staff panic and ‘shut down’? There is very little time or opportunity to get to know how things work, or the ins and outs and tricks.

 

I’ve just back what I’ve written, and it sounds as though I’m making excuses, or pleading a special case. I’m not, but I just wanted to articulate the ‘other’ point of view.

 

IT support get very little training on anything... at all, not a whinge, just a fact. A bricklayer, electrician, plumber etc aren't expected to go home and "do it in your garage" to learn and improve their skills.

e.g. One place IT were supposed to know about AV stuff which is a completely different skillset (and payscale)

 

So yes - as a result of that, a lot of us IT folk probably do get a little bit narked when the excuse gets trotted out of "I've not had any training" by certain teachers who pretty much stamp their feet, cross their arms and say 'I'm not doing it', just like a toddler.

 

I can see it from both sides however the frustration. You're asking us for help on things we've had no help on ourselves, but you've come to us as the "experts". So we can't do our jobs properly because we haven't had any training either - it comes full circle. Not a nice position to be in is it?

 

The other thing is time - we don't have time to do our own actual jobs due to ever increasing workloads and reduced staff/resources. The more we're spending 'training' (another role with a completely different skillset and payscale) the less we're actually doing our own jobs and I guarantee you someone is going to complain about something not being done. So the other side, is a result of that - there's no motivation from the IT team to actually help you here either. Do you blame management or the culture or something else?

[stevejp]

IT support get very little training on anything... at all, not a whinge, just a fact. A bricklayer, electrician, plumber etc aren't expected to go home and "do it in your garage" to learn and improve their skills.

e.g. One place IT were supposed to know about AV stuff which is a completely different skillset (and payscale)

 

So yes - as a result of that, a lot of us IT folk probably do get a little bit narked when the excuse gets trotted out of "I've not had any training" by certain teachers who pretty much stamp their feet, cross their arms and say 'I'm not doing it', just like a toddler.

 

I can see it from both sides however the frustration. You're asking us for help on things we've had no help on ourselves, but you've come to us as the "experts". So we can't do our jobs properly because we haven't had any training either - it comes full circle. Not a nice position to be in is it?

 

The other thing is time - we don't have time to do our own actual jobs due to ever increasing workloads and reduced staff/resources. The more we're spending 'training' (another role with a completely different skillset and payscale) the less we're actually doing our own jobs and I guarantee you someone is going to complain about something not being done. So the other side, is a result of that - there's no motivation from the IT team to actually help you here either. Do you blame management or the culture or something else?

 

In many ways I completely understand and agree - and it is an appalling situation that training for IT support is minimal, if it exists at all. However, in my mind it goes back to a basic skill set. I would expect a trained primary school teacher to be able to teach most subjects (apart perhaps from MFL) to a certain basic level after a certain amount of research. But ICT knowledge is not necessarily part of that skill set. In the same way, surely a qualified and experienced IT technician would have the skill set to be able to guide and advise on new tech - again, up to a certain level - but that skill set doesn’t include the skills needed to stand in front of a class and teach English, or history.

 

Perhaps a better comparison would be music? I am/ was a brass player, brought up in the world of brass bands, with hardly any knowledge of orchestral instruments until I started work. However, as a music teacher in a primary school I was tuning violins and cellos, conducting choirs and orchestras, teaching baby woodwind players etc. Later on, I used my musical knowledge on a personal level to ‘transfer’ to orchestral percussion, with some success at an amateur level. I’m not showing off or claiming to be a brilliant musician - but I had basic talent and aptitude together with relevant transferable skills which enabled me to work up to a certain level. IT technicians have that same talent, aptitude and transferable skills in their chosen field.

 

It shouldn’t have to be this way - but that’s an argument way beyond my pay-grade!

 

(Edited to add) and just to be clear, I have absolutely no time for the ‘stamping feet’ brigade!

Edited January 12, 2022 by stevejp

[DrBeaker]

In many ways I completely understand and agree - and it is an appalling situation that training for IT support is minimal, if it exists at all. However, in my mind it goes back to a basic skill set. I would expect a trained primary school teacher to be able to teach most subjects (apart perhaps from MFL) to a certain basic level after a certain amount of research. But ICT knowledge is not necessarily part of that skill set. In the same way, surely a qualified and experienced IT technician would have the skill set to be able to guide and advise on new tech - again, up to a certain level - but that skill set doesn’t include the skills needed to stand in front of a class and teach English, or history.

 

Perhaps a better comparison would be music? I am/ was a brass player, brought up in the world of brass bands, with hardly any knowledge of orchestral instruments until I started work. However, as a music teacher in a primary school I was tuning violins and cellos, conducting choirs and orchestras, teaching baby woodwind players etc. Later on, I used my musical knowledge on a personal level to ‘transfer’ to orchestral percussion, with some success at an amateur level. I’m not showing off or claiming to be a brilliant musician - but I had basic talent and aptitude together with relevant transferable skills which enabled me to work up to a certain level. IT technicians have that same talent, aptitude and transferable skills in their chosen field.

 

It shouldn’t have to be this way - but that’s an argument way beyond my pay-grade!

 

(Edited to add) and just to be clear, I have absolutely no time for the ‘stamping feet’ brigade!

 

 

A pleasure to participate in a mutual interesting debate!

 

...In the same way, surely a qualified and experienced IT technician would have the skill set to be able to guide and advise on new tech - again, up to a certain level - but that skill set doesn’t include the skills needed to stand in front of a class and teach English, or history.

 

Absolutely agree. We often find though behind the scenes to so speak in IT support:

 

1) Despite the above, we're not listened to by SLT and others. See # 7.

 

2) Our recommendations are "too expensive" and rejected. Despite the fact we've done our homework etc before you got the recommendation - Our recommendations are based on numerous factors, analysis and costings including TCO.

 

Cheaper solutions are than forced upon us others which don't work properly, IT get the blame, IT get a bad rep and IT have no motivation to go out on a limb for anything in the future. It's a negative cycle.

 

 

3) Contractors do a shoddy job and run off. IT are left to fix (even when sometimes we didn't organise said work) and IT get the blame in the interim. See #2

 

4) People get involved who have no skill or expertise to make technical judgements and results in mistakes being made that IT wouldn't make. See #1 and #2

 

5) Shoddy 3rd parties are chosen with little quality service or customer support, the decision based solely on costs on a spreadsheet. Not actual real-world costs. So when the catering system goes down just before lunchtime that only offers email support for problems, as that's all you wanted to pay - IT get the blame, see #2.

 

6) Our recommendations for equipment lifespans is often ignored. Purely due to costs on a spreadsheet, see #2.

 

7) All of the above and as a result he qualified and experienced IT technician doesn't get paid a decent salary for the amount of work or valued appropriately, and so moves on somewhere else that does.

Edited January 12, 2022 by DrBeaker

[stevejp]

A pleasure to participate in a mutual interesting debate!

 

 

 

Absolutely agree. We often find though behind the scenes to so speak in IT support:

 

1) Despite the above, we're not listened to by SLT and others. See # 7.

 

2) Our recommendations are "too expensive" and rejected. Despite the fact we've done our homework etc before you got the recommendation - Our recommendations are based on numerous factors, analysis and costings including TCO.

 

Cheaper solutions are than forced upon us others which don't work properly, IT get the blame, IT get a bad rep and IT have no motivation to go out on a limb for anything in the future. It's a negative cycle.

 

 

3) Contractors do a shoddy job and run off. IT are left to fix (even when sometimes we didn't organise said work) and IT get the blame in the interim. See #2

 

4) People get involved who have no skill or expertise to make technical judgements and results in mistakes being made that IT wouldn't make. See #1 and #2

 

5) Shoddy 3rd parties are chosen with little quality service or customer support, the decision based solely on costs on a spreadsheet. Not actual real-world costs. So when the catering system goes down just before lunchtime that only offers email support for problems, as that's all you wanted to pay - IT get the blame, see #2.

 

6) Our recommendations for equipment lifespans is often ignored. Purely due to costs on a spreadsheet, see #2.

 

7) All of the above and as a result he qualified and experienced IT technician doesn't get paid a decent salary for the amount of work or valued appropriately, and so moves on somewhere else that does.

 

You may (or, more probably, may not!) be surprised to learn that it’s often a similar situation for teaching staff as well.

 

“Yes, we know you’ve been writing reports perfectly well on ‘Word’ for many years now, but look; here’s shiny new Google Classroom! And the person pushing it (promotion in the offing?) has very kindly set up a complicated template on ‘Google Sheets’ (subtle spelling variations on the second word are available…)! Spell check and auto capitalisation? Well, no, they’re not quite as good as Word, but look how easy it is! What’s that? Not as easy as Word? It can’t possibly take form tutors three times as long to proof read, you must be exaggerating! After all, we’ve given you three whole days to check them, in between your teaching commitment…”

[mw184]

I think as far as an IT field goes, and speaking from personal experience, a lot of staff use computers on a daily basis now and it is everyday things that they seem to struggle with when using them. I must admit that I sometimes do forget that staff do not have my level of experience using technology as I do and that is something I am working on to be a better person and a batter Network Manager for the school. Most of the staff I deal with here are RQT or NQT (or whatever the new version of those are) and so I do find it concerning when they are fresh out of uni and cannot do this stuff.

 

I want to say now I am not teacher bashing here in the slightest, I have a massive respect for everything they do and I know how challenging their jobs are and especially during this pandemic how hard they have worked.

 

To get to my point, if staff cannot teach how to do these basic functions, we end up stuck in a vicious circle. As IT we spend the time to learn how to do things off our own backs (often without credit or recognition as several people have eluded to) but those who are not in IT most likely wont do this. If the teachers of today cannot teach this basic technology, the teachers of tomorrow are not going to know it either, and so the cycle continues generation after generation. Is it that staff are not interested or do not have the right training, I don't know. But I do know I try my hardest to help to train staff and even threw myself into teaching without any training by going into classes and teaching IT when requested by staff to try and address the issue. My concern is that if as a global body in education we keep on prioritising things and not focusing on others as well, we are never going to break this cycle and inevitable children are going to be held back in a world that is becoming more and more technology dependant day after day.

 

Again I am not saying it is the teachers fault, and I have massive respect for them all, and I see every day that new teachers out of uni struggle with technology and this goes back to the beginning when tech was just coming into school in a mainstream way and staff might not have been trained enough to teach it properly then. And with the ever evolving landscape of tech bringing changes regularly, it can be very hard to keep up. But the core skills remain the same across all generations for the most part. I think it is more of an issue in education as a whole, not with staff and individual teachers.

[paulkerton]

They reformed the ITT scheme in 2020 and basic computing skills didn't come up once. I don't know if it's a classic case of its just "expected" that people gather these skills as they go?

[mw184]

Could this be an attitude issue in Education then? I know in many private sector businesses you would be expected to know this and they wouldn't tolerate people working for years and still not knowing. So is this a case of in Education we are so glued to schemes and set out ways of doing things by the Government for example, that we happily let these things slide when in other places it would not be tolerated? For example a classic case of "They don't mention it, therefore it isn't important" which leads to it being neglected? Are schools so scared of things like OFSTEAD that they stick to letter of these schemes and other really important things get left behind? Which hints at it being an issue in the core of the education sector itself and not one individual person.

[Oaktech]

The ability to troubleshoot the following:

 

Windows key+P issues

learning to change the input on the display device in question.

'your domain is not available' because the WiFi is turned off.

Trying to unplug and replug a USB device before calling for help.

[Duranis]

Could this be an attitude issue in Education then? I know in many private sector businesses you would be expected to know this and they wouldn't tolerate people working for years and still not knowing. So is this a case of in Education we are so glued to schemes and set out ways of doing things by the Government for example, that we happily let these things slide when in other places it would not be tolerated? For example a classic case of "They don't mention it, therefore it isn't important" which leads to it being neglected? Are schools so scared of things like OFSTEAD that they stick to letter of these schemes and other really important things get left behind? Which hints at it being an issue in the core of the education sector itself and not one individual person.

 

I think this very much hits the nail on the head. There is a ton of pressure to get everything that is "on list list" perfect. Anything not "on the list" is secondary and is abandoned if it gets in the way. If you don't "need" IT skills to fulfil the criteria I don't blame teachers for not wanting to spend even more time trying to learn more than the bare minimum to get "what's on the list" done.

 

In the private sector what is on your list is generally not as broad. IT skills in a lot of jobs are specifically part of the job and if you don't have them then you can't do the job. I have known lots of people in other sectors where IT is not part of the job and they don't have very good IT skill sets either.

The ability to troubleshoot.

This is one that bugs me so much. I have lost count of how many times I have gone to fix something that is "broken" and it turns out it is unplugged, turned off, out of paper or some other obvious issue that takes 5 seconds of critical thought to solve.

 

However I try and remind myself that teaching does seem to require a completely different mindset and "flow" to be effective. If you have a class of 30 kids waiting on you and your board is suddenly not working you have the choice of either breaking the flow of your lesson, switching your thinking process to try and solve the problem and then having 30 kids losing concentration and getting bored while your trying to solve it. All while you have the timer ticking down in the back of your head for how long you have left in this lesson to get this information across and understood by these kids.

 

OR

 

You say sod it, move on with the lesson so you don't lose that flow and get someone else to hopefully sort it out for you.

 

I have to admit if the positions were reversed I would be prioritising getting the lesson done rather than trying to "maybe" fix a problem and break the whole flow of the lesson. Especially when my job security is based on how much information I can get into these kids and make them retain (i.e. Do what's "on the list" above all else).

[clareq]

I think this very much hits the nail on the head. There is a ton of pressure to get everything that is "on list list" perfect. Anything not "on the list" is secondary and is abandoned if it gets in the way. If you don't "need" IT skills to fulfil the criteria I don't blame teachers for not wanting to spend even more time trying to learn more than the bare minimum to get "what's on the list" done.

 

In the private sector what is on your list is generally not as broad. IT skills in a lot of jobs are specifically part of the job and if you don't have them then you can't do the job. I have known lots of people in other sectors where IT is not part of the job and they don't have very good IT skill sets either.

 

This is one that bugs me so much. I have lost count of how many times I have gone to fix something that is "broken" and it turns out it is unplugged, turned off, out of paper or some other obvious issue that takes 5 seconds of critical thought to solve.

 

However I try and remind myself that teaching does seem to require a completely different mindset and "flow" to be effective. If you have a class of 30 kids waiting on you and your board is suddenly not working you have the choice of either breaking the flow of your lesson, switching your thinking process to try and solve the problem and then having 30 kids losing concentration and getting bored while your trying to solve it. All while you have the timer ticking down in the back of your head for how long you have left in this lesson to get this information across and understood by these kids.

 

OR

 

You say sod it, move on with the lesson so you don't lose that flow and get someone else to hopefully sort it out for you.

 

I have to admit if the positions were reversed I would be prioritising getting the lesson done rather than trying to "maybe" fix a problem and break the whole flow of the lesson. Especially when my job security is based on how much information I can get into these kids and make them retain (i.e. Do what's "on the list" above all else).

 

Yes, I fully understand that, but I have lost count of how many times I've gone to a lesson that is on hold, while the teacher is flapping that they cannot teach until x is fixed, when a simple Win+P or reboot would have got them back teaching in the time it took me to get to the classroom.

[asteer]

For me, I would expect all teachers to have:

 

• basic IT skills, in much the same way a reading, writing and numeracy skills
  
• high levels of knowledge around safe-guarding
  
• basic health and safety skills
  

The remainder I would expect to be about the methods of teaching(pedagogy if you prefer), classroom management and subject knowledge.

 

Having previously worked at a University providing Teacher Training I can confrim that the training dosent cover any IT specific elements other than what would be needed at University level in general to use email/type up an assignment ect. If you wouldnt expect "JoePublic" to be able to do it, I wouldnt expect a teacher to be able to do it without being told/shown. If they havent specialised in IT/have a good IT background to begin with then they wont know much.

 

The amount of time the IT team had to deal with the odd requests that students had, always made us wonder how these people were going to be teaching future generations

Edited January 13, 2022 by asteer

[Koldov]

I have to say I'm not exactly sure where I stand on this one if I'm honest... and therefore I find even my own arguments are fairly rambling and contradictory...

 

But, funny story... I have just dealt with this exact issue today!

 

A student teacher arrived at my office door this morning looking to collect a laptop, she was how shall I put this... ah, yes... a mature student... and pretty much the first line out of her mouth was the 'classic'... 'oh, I'm terrible at computers'.... so, we had a good laugh about that... but she's not stupid, just not very IT literate. Her previous profession was a lawyer, but even then she had never even owned a laptop until recently. She admitted that she'd never used PowerPoint, had to resize A4 on a MFD into booklets or used an Interactive Whiteboard (and depending on the school they went to for experience might never get covered in any of their training). Trying not to be ageist, but learning the skills to be a 'teacher' at all, let alone if you have never had exposure to any of the technology for the greater part of your life must be quite daunting.

 

The other thing is that I suppose depending on the subject or level they are teaching, IT literacy isn't something they need to get the job, it certainly isn't something that's high on the list of things our SLT are looking for when they employ a teacher (although I'm sure they'd be grateful for an ICT subject leader/co-ordinator). The thing is we are Primary level and teachers need to know every subject as they teach a class, not a subject. There is an educational platform for them to use for a lot of it and so for the vast majority of the time they are not teaching from experience of the subject matter but more parrot fashion/paint by numbers, for instance we use Purple Mash to cover the Computing Curriculum (mainly because in our whole faculty we do not have a single teacher who has any great knowledge or even interest in computing).

 

Now, the way I see it 'teaching' is quite a skill (and I do have respect for what they do - I could not and would not do it), has its own subset of skills but (frustrating as it is for us) I'm not going to say they need to include even basic 'ICT' skills to do the job of teaching the children Primary level core subjects. But I would point out that even admin staff here that have been doing the job for years with the technology struggle with change (or a new way of doing the same things) and if it falls outside of what they are used to are quite adverse to it (example being the receptionist who calls me every time she needs to open a particular file as it changed location - so, not how she has done it for the last 10 years). I am not exempt from this myself either (let he who is without sin etc.) there are various systems (take the server OS for example that I could update) that are the way they are because they work well, I know how to use them and changing them for the sake of it will cause me a lot of headaches...

 

I echo some of the sentiments here that at least we do have the aptitude and ability to pick up technology (in whatever form) quite quickly, as we use it all day everyday. Teachers using it occasionally might find a change in platform quite daunting and confusing as they don't. Plus they have a myriad of other concerns, it just isn't their primary focus, it may be a tool to do their job, but it certainly isn't the only tool and possibly not even the main tool.

 

As for saving work and such (or other 'basic' IT skills), even if they use a laptop fairly frequently at home they save their work and close the lid (why would anyone think it would be any different), if they don't or never had, why must we think it would be obvious how to do a 'simple' task... they don't have to navigate to the specific drive mandated by IT and then know that the children must save it somewhere else - be it another drive, Google, OneDrive etc. This will vary by school, depending on the platform each individual school uses, which we know is quite varied... if at the previous school it was Google, Meet, Drive, Docs and at the next MS, Teams, OneDrive, Word (or how about a Mac school) it is quite a shift in workflow.

[jmak]

Biggest issue for teachers is that when "it doesn't work", it usually happens in front of 30 kids who lose interest very quickly and then you lose the whole lesson. Even though I'll usually find out how to solve a problem for myself pretty quickly, it's different when you're trying to control a class.

 

Having said that, this thread came from a teacher repeatedly asking how to save pupils' work. In the infant school I worked in, lesson one was how to log on and lesson two was how to save your work. All teachers should be completely competent in that, but do should all the pupils. OneDrive/Google Workspace has made saving much more straightforward. If you log in and create a document, it's saved. I always added the one that was being used to Windows Explorer, so anyone who's ever saved anything should be able to work it out.

[paulkerton]

OneDrive/Google Workspace has made saving much more straightforward. If you log in and create a document, it's saved.

I'm guessing you've not been on the receiving end of the "I can't stand how it saves automatically for you" venom I have in the past then!

[E_G_R2]

Anyone think that if they were more IT savvy some of us would be out of a job?

[Koldov]

I'm guessing you've not been on the receiving end of the "I can't stand how it saves automatically for you" venom I have in the past then!

 

Not sure I should even admit this as I'm supposed to be the all knowing IT person (as opposed to those pesky teachers)...

 

But I was a bit stumped for a while trying to find the 'save' or 'save as' option...

[DrBeaker]

Thing is I've ran sessions for staff before for drop-in/ask me anything (IT-related) sessions before. WiFi, logons, how to do this etc.

 

I've had 1x taker in all that time and they only attended the one. That time could have been better spent.

 

So I'm note sure how we move this forward overall. You've got to meet me halfway.

It really does seem we're dammed if we do and dammed if we don't in this field.

[Koldov]

I don't really think you can do something like a 'drop-in' session for issues that they don't see as an issue...? Probably spent their time better - marking books, updating learning logs, photocopying resources, wondering how to keep little Timmy engaged, or just having a well earned sit down and cuppa in the staff room, etc... I guess that's what really goes round in their mind.

 

I'm sure anything IT related isn't a focus of their job (no matter how crucial to doing the job it might seem) it is secondary.

 

We all know the feeling of being called into a classroom and being asked to get X,Y or Z working as they want to use it in this lesson (or the planning says they have to). Yet, when asked if they have used it before or made sure it all works before the lesson you are met with a blank look... Like "when did I have the time to do that"?

Edited January 13, 2022 by Koldov

[Oaktech]

Anyone think that if they were more IT savvy some of us would be out of a job?

 

Nope... It would allow us to be more strategic and spend less time wielding a metaphorical fire extinguisher.

[Norphy]

Anyone think that if they were more IT savvy some of us would be out of a job?

 

"IT Savvy" doesn't have to mean "Knows how to configure Arch Linux, can set up an Exchange Server in their sleep and can program a VCR", it can just mean "knows enough to perform their job role without having to ask where the Any key is all the time, can perform basic troubleshooting tasks before asking for help". There's a world of difference between someone having a problem thanks to a faulty bit of software or hardware between someone calling because the mouse isn't working because it's not plugged in.