Help Me Figure Out How To Do this

It came out in our last teachers’ council meeting that people don’t use the technology available to us at church because

a) It’s optimized for DVD’s and VHS and no one uses them anymore. Our library doesn’t even have any in stock anymore.

b) It’s a hassle to book the two big TV’s because our librarian is never there, and there is no in-advance booking system on which we can rely.

c) Everyone is using iPads, Tablets, Laptops and phones for their video technology, and the cabling isn’t available that fits their devices at the chapel.

d) They don’t know how to use it anyway.

e) The Wi Fi is not reliable for streaming.

f) if we invest in cabling, then it gets stolen or not returned. Example — we had seven chalk erasers and chalk bags, and now we only have one left. Everyone has absconded with the other 6 after signing it out from the library.

People now bring their laptop and show the class videos and app-based exercise stuff. It works in small classes, but even in a class of 7 yesterday, the laptop was too small for older people who can’t see long distances. In Gospel Doctrine and Essentials it’s impossible, although you can hear the video.

So, bad access to resources, insufficient equipment, and lack of knowledge is hurting quality, in my view. Videos and software based exercises are very useful in providing variety and making the church experience engaging. Not to poo poo traditional methods, but frankly after 30 years of it, I’m ready for a change.

So, we have people willing to use and learn technology in the classroom, but we need to change our organization’s technology and systems to make it accessible and reliable.

Any thoughts on how to do this?

Mine:

1. Do a workshop where everyone brings their devices, and I have someone I know who is good in IT to show them how to use various adapters and cables. Encourage people to buy them, citing they can also be used at home on their TV’s. These adapters and cables cost between $8 and $30, so we could encourage people to just one as it fits their device. Disclaimers galore — we don’t want to cause hardship etcetera and that it’s optional, no pressure..

2. Get the Auxiliaries to invest in their own cables and issue them to teachers with manuals. Get them back from teachers when they are released (that will incur some loss, I know). I personally don’t trust this to work.

3. Get common adapters and cables and affix them to the carts on which our TV’s sit. Zip tie them down so they can’t be ripped off. Put instructions on the cart so people can figure out how to use them.

4. Look into an automated booking system. There are a couple free options.

5. I am willing to invest in a portable projector, which is much better than a TV if you put a couple pieces of poster paper on the wall. My wife is there, and people can book it through me. After this gets a habit, I could ask the Bishop to reimburse me for it and put it in the hands of someone who is there every week, perhaps our Sunday School. I can get a good one for $80 based on Amazon reviews. The technology has gotten cheaper, and if we issued poster paper in tubes they could tape to the wall or hang from the chalkboard, that could work.

6. I thought of petitioning facilties to put projects that connect to a podium in major rooms, like the RS Room, YW room, and certain big classrooms. Up high where they can’t be stolen, and permanently affixed.

Anyway, these are just ideas. It goes to show the utter lack of thinking about teaching quality at the Ward level when we don’t even had systems and technology in place that people can use — particularly after we got rid of all our videos and DVD’s!!!

Thoughts welcome on how to make technology accessible to people given the lack of reliability and lack of consistent systems in our Ward..

I prefer a solution I can just manage, with little or no overhead at all, rather than begging the Bishopric to do something, rather than relying on volunteer librarians with varying commitment, etcetera. None of that has worked…

Thoughts welcome.

SD