When teachers are involved in the design of new technologies

Recently, I found some time to sit and chat with three teachers from a local elementary school here in Maryland. Two are media specialists and one is a third grade teacher (who teaches children ages 7-8 years old). All have been a part of our team over the past couple of years in developing new interfaces for children’s digital libraries. These teachers have joined our lab twice a month during the school year to work with our children (7-11 years old) and research staff and students. As a team, we have explored new search tools, visualizations of books, developing new content collections, and more. Over that time, we’ve been so busy making new technologies that we’ve rarely had the chance to reflect on what it’s like to be a teacher involved in making new technologies. Below is an excerpt from our conversation together (their names have been changed for privacy reasons). Perhaps these teachers’ thoughts may help some of you considering bringing teachers into your design process. ---Allison Druin