Who is responsible?

This story should get your blood moving/boiling this morning.

Students struggle with digital skills because their teachers lack confidence

It’s an interesting article from Australia, references are made to the Information and Communications Technology Capacity and, of course, the results of testing students.

So, who’s to blame?

If you stick to the title, it’s obviously the teachers. 

But let’s step back and cut a little slack here.  How many of today’s teachers grew up using technology appropriately in their own learning?  How many of today’s teachers are self-taught which typically means learning a skill set to satisfy their needs?  How much of the technology that is infused into schools is actually supported other than making sure that it actually works?

I think that the success numbers for reading, writing, and numeracy help build the argument.  For years, professional learning growth and opportunities have centred around these skills.  They’re seen as necessary for success.  Into the fray comes digital literacy. 

Isn’t it time that it has the same importance for staff development? 

It’s not an easy target to hit.  The examples of digital literacy skills in the article are wide open to interpretation as to just what they exactly mean.  And, the skill to do it varies from computer to computer, software to software, operating system to operating system.

At present, we’re all over the map.  I just took a look at my Hootsuite columns for my groups and I see discussions ranging from coding in the classroom to looking for a simple program to support reading on an iPad.

Given all this, you could hardly blame teachers for a “lack of confidence”.

Does the responsibility lie there?  Do we force things to get better by testing teachers as suggested in the article?

Or does the responsibility lie equally with the school, the school district, the Education Services, Teacher Training Universities, or a collaborative of all?

I’d be very interested in your thoughts and reflections on this topic.  Please comment below.