Change!

Are you one of those people that always know when the weather is going to change before anyone else does? Does the time change in the fall and spring throw you off? You may be a person that is sensitive to change or just a person that needs time to process change. Whatever your comfort zone is, change can be difficult for everyone. Technology seems to be moving at the speed of light and it is hard to believe that the World Wide Web has been in existence for less than 20 years. A recent article by Curtis Bonk, Overcoming the technology resistance movement (2010) discusses 10 ideas to help overcome the resistance to change related to technology. The majority of ideas presented are focused on internal support and are common to any organizational change. Change is sometimes best accomplished in “baby steps” as Bill Murray states repeatedly in the movie What about Bob? The Education and Technology Committee wants to become a clearinghouse of ideas about supporting all faculty in learning more and becoming more comfortable with technology. What are some of your ideas to help overcome resistance or sometimes fear of technology? Feel free to add a comment to this blog post to share your thoughts.

Here are our top ideas:

1. Take advantage of Faculty Development Sessions. Learn something new or brush-up on developing skills and techniques.
2. Don’t ignore change or sweep it under the rug, PLAN for it. Set aside time on your calendar to learn a little bit at a time.
3. Stay abreast of news and developments in technology. Subscribe to a blog or technology based news source.
4. If you are using a technology tool and you are comfortable with it, share your best practices and experiences with others to make it easy for them to ‘make a change.’
5. When you need just in time support for a technology or tool check out http://rhchp.regis.edu/facultyresourcesite/home.html AND http://rhchp.regis.edu/DE/tutorials/faculty/index.html
6. Perhaps, find something you are passionate about and see if you can add that to the changes that are occurring.
   
7. Don’t fear change – embrace it! Ask questions of a mentor that you trust who will meet you where you are at in your learning curve.
   
   

Barb Cheuvront & Nicole Marcisz