The quick answer is I don’t think you can. Or should. The key is to cultivate an organisation that embraces change, novelty and risk across the board, not just in ICT.  Something a fair few schools feel discouraged from doing.

Here’s the long answer…

Training courses are comfortable. I’ve been a trainer in different sectors for 11 years now and there is a time-honoured process for identifying a training need, devising a course, evaluating it and then starting all over again or buggering off.

Also, for learners, courses are comfortable. You sort of know what to expect; leave your desk for a day or two, find out some new stuff, discard the stuff you disagreed with then get on with life pretty much as it was before the course.

I’d be happy to bet that of all the training programmes I’ve been a part of, maybe 50% have been good value for money.

That’s not because I’m a rubbish trainer.  It’s because if you want real transformation to take place the learner’s environment and culture has to change as much as their brain. 2 days in a training room ain’t gonna do that.

For web2.0 specifically you are faced with a model of technology that doesn’t behave like traditional IT.  It’s much more flexible, available, ephemeral and fragile than what most people are used to.

“Train” people how to use particular web2.0 apps and before you know it the tech landscape has changed and people are cross at you for wasting their time! Check out Henrico Dolfing’s slideshare about why web2.0 is a fragile beast. (Thanks James Clay for posting it)

So, do 2 things…

1) Forget about ICT – for the moment anyway. Breed a culture at all levels on both sides of the staffroom door that thrives on change and novelty. Students will need that skill when they step outside the gate. That way the school’s use of ICT will flex and bend with technology, not try to shoehorn old technology into new curriculums (curricula?).

2) Let students do the choosing of how they use ICT.  This frees teachers from having to keep at the bleeding edge of technology when their real job is helping students to learn.

Obviously, it’s going to be much more complex than that so let me know how you would refine this. Or tell me what the right answer should be…

Image – Noodlepie 6n Flickr