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I like new kit. Not just hardware, but software too.
I take new systems and new kit and push them to see a) how they work and b) when they break.
That's fine, but I know that people around me don't necessarily want to move at the same pace. At least not using the tools & systems that I use. That's for a variety of reasons - cost, fear, no immediate need etc.
That's why my role at work tends to involve elements of looking forward - to see what's coming down the line so that we're ready when it becomes mainstream - and elements of looking at what we're currently using - to make sure we're using it to best effect.
So, Bill Lord's post "Flattening out the rollercoaster" had a lot of resonances with me. In it, he describes how he deliberately slowed the pace of change (re. ICT) in his school. They "pulled back the pioneers" and set them to support those were struggling to keep up their understanding of what they were already using.
The effect of this was described by a visitor from the DCSF: “You don’t have a huge amount of kit but what you do have is used all of the time.”
That contrasted hugely with my experiences in most schools which contain cupboards (and walls in the case of IWBs) full of unused software and hardware. Often bought with government seed funding, but with no real idea of how it would be implemented and used effectively.
There will always be a role for pioneers - mapping out and testing the future direction. At the other end we mustn't be afraid of getting rid of equipment and systems that are past their useful life.
However, the majority of our effort must be in making sure that the direction we choose is taken wholeheartedly so that the most benefit is achieved.
Sometimes that will mean a slow-down. Not a stop. Just a slow-down.
