Write On Line
I remember, about six years ago, our whole school decided to use "Write on Line" (http://www.learninggrids.com/us/WriteOnlinePage.aspx). The program involved allowing students to access the writing site from anywhere anytime via a computer. The program uses all the regular word processing tools, but Write on line also has extra features such as speech support, which will read what has been written so the student can hear what they have written sounds like. There are word prediction lists so that students can choose words from the list. Also, the Wordbar displays topic-related words and phrases students may wish to use. There is also a WorkSpace graphic organizer to help students organize their ideas for prewriting.
We agreed, as a staff, to use the program, hoping that it would encourage non writers to become engaged with writing and strong students to further develop their writing skills. Our principal talked about the program and the benefits. We bought a licence for using the program for, I think it was three or four years. We had a demonstration of how to use it at an in-school ProD day. We all seemed to be really pumped to try it out with our classes.
The first few months our staff used the program and many students were engaged. After about six months I was the only one using the program. I used the program throughout the full term of use. I think that what happened was that other staff members may not have been that interested or enthusiastic about using the program, but possibly didn't want to vocalize their reluctance. I know that some felt that they were a bit pressured into going along with it. The other problem was that there should have been more "practice" for the staff. I know that I spent a lot of time after the workshop to make sure that I could properly show my students how to access and use the program. Computer time in the lab was another issue that was difficult to get. I can see how the enthusiasm from some of the staff would wane if they couldn't get consistent regular access to the lab to immerse the class in the use of the program. I do know that when I learn something new, I need time to play with it right away so that I can embed it into my brain. If some teachers didn't do this on their own time, then they may have forgotten what to do and thus the interest wanes.
The bottom line with anything we do as educators is to make sure that the support is ongoing for new innovations we introduce. Educators must have time to become comfortable with the new innovations and feel that they can call upon someone right away to help them with new things. Otherwise, no matter how good something seems will be lost and educators will be reluctant to try new things. We also need to make sure, as with technology, that a good infrastructure is in place and that the equipment needed works and is readily available. Nothing is more frustrating than wanting to do an activity only to find out that the supplies have run out or you can't access them when you want to.