Technoverload

As I was sitting down this morning for breakfast, my wife and I began to talk about the uses of technology in our respective classrooms (me: HS math, she: HS science).  We covered a variety of issues, but the biggest topic we kept coming back to was this idea of using technology for the sake of using technology.  That got me to thinking...

I consider myself pretty astute in the ways of technology; I like to use the latest and greatest and get caught up in all the fun and cute little features.  In my own mathematics classroom, I try to incorporate a variety of things that would benefit the students.  I've been called "Techno Nerd", "Tech Geek", and other loving terms by colleagues, and that doesn't bother me.  Because of that mindset, I was the first person in our district to get a SMARTBoard about 6 years ago, the first to get a TI-Nspire Navigator system, and one of the first in the building to try out our new Gmail and Mac transition.  That's all fine and dandy with me (I get to play with new things!), but I feel a bigger picture is being missed by some of those in charge:

What truly is the purpose of technology in our classrooms?

SMARTBoards have been spreading like wildfire in our district, to the point that most (if not all) have one in their classroom this year, or in the very near future.  Now, with the switch to a Google Apps school, we're pushing Chromebooks everywhere, and also are rolling out iPads.

Hold on there a sec...

It's starting to seem to me that we're just shoving tech down teacher's throats with quick "training" or no training, and expecting it to be used.  We've had speakers come in and show us how to do flipcharts and timers on websites.  However, I don't recall much time being spent letting us develop and find technology that would be beneficial to us.

Teachers are getting SMARTBoards that don't want one, teachers that wanted a SMARTBoard are using them to show PowerPoints.  Why couldn't we use one, or two, or three of our mandated weekly 2-hour PLCs to spend time as a department to prioritize technology needs that we would use and that would greatly impact our instruction.  What i like best about my SMARTBoard in my room is the versatility it gives me in my classroom: I usually have my TI-Nspire Software up there to model how to use the handheld, send files to my students, go over class polls, etc.  I try to find a way to use it to do something I couldn't do either easily or at all before.

Somewhere, somehow, there has to be a way for us in the classroom to be able to determine what we need.  I feel that way, district dollars could be more properly spent and a more efficient use of funds could occur.

What do you think?  Am I alone in this thinking?