Last Tuesday at the beginning of the STEM Technology course, I tried to display the computer on the screen. I hit all the needed buttons and I tried other things, but it wouldn't work. Finally I emailed Classroom Technology Services and they came over and fixed it. Even better--the tech showed me what was wrong so I could look for that issue if I encountered the same problem in the future.
On Wednesday I am in the same classroom for History of Math and I went to display the document camera on Zoom. I followed all the steps that I used last semester, switched cameras multiple times, and it didn't work. After class I asked Dr. Larson if she had the same issue that morning in her class, and she did. I think it may have worked on Friday, but I am not convinced.
So this is a blogpost for the technology class--why would I be negative in this post? I am not trying to be negative, but rather I am being realistic. Technology isn't going to work perfectly every time we use it so we have to have a backup plan for everything. As a teacher, we must not only learn how to use technology, we have to learn how to troubleshoot problems, and we have to have a backup plan. Don't let anyone tell you that teaching is an easy job--it is not. Those that say it is have no idea what we do every day and frequently they don't respect what we do. So the first thing you need to do to prepare for a career as a teacher is to get thick skin.
I feel your pain. However, it's good to model these issues with future teachers because it will happen to them! BTW...in many of the rooms you get the document camera to come up by searching for camera on the desktop. May not be your issue but that is the way it's worked for me in a couple rooms.
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