Patience, grasshopper.

One of the things that has been going through my mind lately is time. Whatever it is we are learning, however old or experienced as learners we may be, we need time. Time to incorporate the new knowledge, to practise with it, to make it ours so then we can experiment with it and ultimately own it.

I am not going to deny that incorporating technology into our teaching practice is challenging. But it is through that challenge that we can improve and grow as professionals. 

I recently came across the conclusions to an Australian study on developing teacher competency in ICT. The report identified four main stages in incorporating the use of technology in the classroom.

1. Access: This is an initial stage, with teachers familiarising themselves with technology and learning how to use it. 

2. Adopting technology: Teachers use techonology to support their traditional teaching strategies. They mimic what they used to do in their pre-tech days, using the new technology.

3. Adapting: technology is incorporated in traditional teaching practice with an emphasis on students' productivity.

4. Appropriating: teachers experiment with new ways of using technology. The focus is on collaborative work and sharing. Technology becomes the means and not the end.

5. Innovating: There is a fifth stage, seldomly attained by teachers. It is the stage of innovating, of discovering new ways of using technology in the learning process.

This is process that, according to Jordi Adell, takes between 3 to 5 years. Can you say "Patience, grasshopper"?

What can we gather from all this? Well, to start with, I think we need patience. Both with ourselves and our colleagues. Learning is a process and, as such, it demands time. Time, however, needs to go hand in hand with effort. Some may be reluctant to adopting technology in their classes, but that is a bury-your-head-in-the-sand attitude that will lead to nowhere. Digital natives have invaded our classrooms and they need to be taught how to use technology efficiently, responsibly and safely. Needless to say, well-thought, sensibly-administered and educationally-oriented public policies must be set up in order to allow teachers the time to reflect, learn, explore and share.