In a previous ILT course I had to create a field project. The course had us explore different ways to evaluate the effectiveness of technology use in a school setting, so I decided to create a survey of interactive whiteboard (smartboard) use in my school. This was to be a walk-through survey of smartboard use - what was being done with the smartboard, whether it was primarily a teacher-centered or student-centered use, and using a scale that rated use from inconsequential to more transformative (according to a published rubric). This was NOT a survey of how well teachers used smartboards. Since my school provides no formal training in technology use, any evaluation of how effectively the teachers use technology would be completely invalid as anything but a pre-test to determine where training resources should be focused, if there were going to be any formal training. I was about to learn how important this distinction is.
Before initiating my survey, I approached the school Principal to ask permission. I explained what I wanted to measure, and how, and she immediately had a pained look on her face. "I think you had better speak to representatives of the teacher's union first," she said. I wasn't expecting this answer at all, so I asked her why she was suggesting this. She had assumed, it turns out, that I would be evaluating HOW WELL the teachers used the technology, not HOW the technology was being used. I also explained that I would be working with a small number of strictly volunteer teachers. That made her feel better, and she gave the go-ahead.
The survey was completed successfully, with enthusiastic volunteers (both teachers and students) eager to learn the results. But at every step in the process, I remembered how the Principal had reacted, and I was careful to keep in mind (and explain) that the survey was not a judgement of the teacher, but a measure of the technology use itself.
I don't think anything like this had ever been attempted in my school, and maybe because of this misunderstanding of what it means to evaluate. I was glad that the Principal spotted the issue, but a less scrupulous administrator might spot something else - a handy way to evaluate teachers without going through the hard work of creating a valid evaluation process.
