I injured myself this week. I was frantically trying to get some templates created and in the process injured my hand through repeating the same mouse movements over and over again. I couldn’t believe a) how much it hurt and b) how much it impacted my productivity. So yesterday I went out and bought myself a very expensive ergonomic mouse (not the one pictured) and couldn’t believe how comfortable it was.
This has gotten me thinking about my responsibilities as IT coordinator at my school. I am in the process of encouraging teachers to use more technology in their classrooms, which by default means they will probably be spending more time working on computers. The state of our school budget being what it is most of the teachers (myself included) are working on reconditioned computers with old keyboards and mice (mouses?). A quick survey of teacher desks reveals that most of them have positioned their screen at the side of their desk so they have to turn to see it, and no-one has their keyboard in the correct position. I am also championing netbooks at our school as a way to move towards 1:1. The small screens, keyboards and ease with which they can be used anywhere seems to be to be a recipe for repetitive stress injuries. In light of my recent injuries I believe that this is not sustainable.
I realise that I need to start lobbying our administration to find some money for teacher training and upgrading of keyboards and mice. It makes no sense to get everyone excited about using technology only to have them all come down with repetitive stress injuries. I’m curious how other schools and school districts are approaching this issue? Are there any exemplars out there of schools taking a really proactive approach regarding RSI?
photo by morgret on flickr
Those are good questions. I think part of being a 21st century learner should include how to use technology in a healthy way. For example, how loud should those little ear buds be? And what about posture while working at a workstation? I recently heard of medical reports showing that youths are wearing out thumb joints from texting!
I think part of the training associated with all the excitement to use technology needs to include a good dose of healthy tips, no matter if the trainee is a teacher or a student. I think I’ll devote a Tech Corner at a staff meeting in September to that topic, but I too, would love to hear ideas from others.
Thanks for taking the time to comment Errin. I hadn’t thought about ear buds and am not surprised to hear that texting might also be having an impact. I do a grade 7 animation unit on repetitive stress injuries every year and these will be good topics to add to the unit. Ironically, while I’m teaching my students about good habits I’m not doing a very good job modeling them myself.
I’m interested in your Tech Corner. What is it? Do you find it an effective way to get info across to staff at a meeting?
Tech Corner is a short (~5 min) time during every staff meeting in which I showcase some way that others at my school can use technology to transform the learning in their classrooms. Sometimes I play a YouTube video, eg. Blogging in Plain English (they love all the Lee Lefever videos), and then show them good examples of how teachers are using blogging. I’ve done quick demos on del.icio.us, wikis, the BCeSIS marks program, Inspiration software and more. I keep it short, entertaining, relevant and positive.
Five minutes is usually enough to peak their interest, and I’m always open to collaborating if someone wants more help. As a result, this year I worked with four other teachers, each working on different projects involving the integration of technology in to their teaching. Considering there are only 14 teachers on staff, I’m pretty pleased with the results and plan to continue for next year.