When Tech UN-Cooperates

Technology does not always cooperate.

After a championship season coaching high school boys' soccer, I used all my post-season free time to create a slideshow using photographs taken by a talented senior who made it out to many of our games. I inserted 250+ action shots into an Apple Keynote presentation that I would turn into a self-playing slideshow with transitions between slides set to the beat of my hand-picked audio. Aside from my incessant analytical tendencies regarding sequence and sizing of the photos and recording the audio and transitions, the process seemed to go smoothly. I finished the Friday before our Monday awards night...or so I thought. Sunday evening my wife asked to see the completed recording, and when I played it back in its entirety, the show didn't work past 29 seconds. The next 24 hours felt like a mad dash to solve the problem before I would show it to the guys and their families.

Over time I have learned a few lessons about the problems that are sure to arise when using tech, in education, or really anywhere.

Always Have a Plan B
With all the things that could go wrong (the downloading, the uploading, the app crashing, the bandwidth overload, etc.), something will probably go wrong. Trying out first what you want students to do is so important; however, I've fallen prey to "winging it" with something I think I understand. There may be an update that makes it confusing for you to demo in front of the students. Or there simply may be a missing piece that you, well, missed. Have a back up plan. In my classes, I like to have some longer term project running in the background. That way, you can just say, "Well, it looks like we're blogging today!" or, "We can work on our poster presentations instead." My Plan B for my slideshow was to show the video recording silently through the computer while listening to the playlist from my iPhone.

Search the Message Boards
I don't know about you, but I tend to randomly come up with what I think would be great inventions. Wouldn't you know it that when I look into if my great idea would be plausible, I see that somebody's already invented it! The same is often true of problems that arise. It will be rare that you are the very first person to have the problem with your tech. Get on the Google train and research it out. Begin generally with your search, and you'll see what other people have been posting. Look for a question similar to yours and read what answers were given. Interestingly, I found that people were talking about the Keynote presentations recordings losing audio at 29 seconds, the same exact timing issue I was dealing with. In the end, even though I had to dig through the Apple support pages with the proper key terms, this is what solved my audio issue.

Sleep On It
I racked my brains toward insanity to solve the problem with the tech. Somehow we think that we can do the same thing over and over and get a different result. Realize that the problem likely will not get solved when you're in a frustrated mindset and unable to think of a creative alternative. It is at that point that you should just go to bed and try again tomorrow. I'm not saying you won't dream about it, but at least your brain will be rested enough the next day to start fresh. When I could not solve the problem with my Keynote on Sunday night, I finally went to bed and had new energy and a fresh look in the morning.

Stick With It
I feel like there are many students these days who do not stay with a problematic situation long enough to make progress. Persistence must be modeled, a sort of "stick-to-it-iveness" that my college professors always talked about. I'm often tempted to give up, but understanding that a failed attempt can lead to greater success later is a great motivator. I didn't have a chance to give up on my slideshow since I had previously told everybody it would be ready for Monday night. Without knowing it, I had forced myself to stick with it by advertising it ahead of time.

Stay Calm
I will often say to my students, "Relax." Giving in to panic just unleashes a whole lot of chaos. Take a breath and think it through logically. It's another trick in allowing your mind to solve the problem effectively. With my slideshow, I have to admit there were a few "arrgghhs" and balled fists along the way. After crossing my fingers and then running into the same problem, I gave in to frustration. But I was able to turn around and try again.

Ask an Expert
Chances are you know somebody more tech savvy than yourself. The thing about technology, though, is that there are so many different spheres. Try to find somebody who has experience with the particular problem you are trying to solve. When you don't know somebody who can help, search online--there's likely a message board or help topic listed somewhere. I talked to somebody from church who has experience with Apple products. I texted him and he offered to help me out, though I solved the problem before I met with him about it.

The Problem is Part of the Process
Take solace in the reality that running into problems with technology is just how it works. There are times when you will need to use your plan B or plan C, or even scrap the whole project because of time constraints. But more often than not, there's a fix for the issue, and if you go in with a patient attitude, you will figure out a way to solve the problem. Patience and persistence pays off. With my slideshow, I figured my Plan B (silent video and separate audio) would work for that evening, but I knew I wanted to present a stand-alone presentation that included motivating audio that would create the right atmosphere for our end-of-season soccer shindig. I stuck with it and realized again that the process allowed me to find ways NOT to solve the problem, which in essence led me to the solution.

When my slideshow finally worked as planned, the feeling of satisfaction was immense. Listening the my soccer players' reactions to their action shots--along with the music I had worked so hard to include--brought me great joy. In the end I had learned to roll with the punches, and I think I'm a better person for it. Our students need to learn to stick with a problem until completion, within reason. For them to feel the satisfaction and joy when they conquer the uncooperative technology (or really any problematic situation) will mold them into our persistent problem solvers of the future.