There is no job description for my line of work so, when I am asked, often I answer that I am a professional geek. That answer seems to satisfy most people who know me well. I have this unshakeable need to know about all the intricacies of computer hardware and about all of the stuff that goes on under the hood. Scary stuff. Useful though, to my family and friends, especially when it comes time to buy a new computer.

This afternoon I installed a computer for a family that I have known for several years. Mum and Dad are good Kiwis who work very hard to give their kids what they consider to be the best. We have kept their aging computer going for quite a while but earlier this week the whole thing came to a grinding halt. It was crunch time. They pay for their family to have a decent broadband connection and consider it important to have printer cartridges so that the kids can print out their ‘projects’. Today we put in a brand new entry level computer. Rather than a chainstore piece of rubbish we put in a custom built entry level computer that can easily be upgraded over the next couple of years

It’s really easy to forget this part of the educational jigsaw puzzle. These are the people who want the absolute best for their kids. Their kids play netball and rugby and are part of kapa haka and choir. They scrimp and save to send their kids on trips to Kelly Tarletons, MOTAT and the Zoo. They grumble about camp fees but then work really hard to help out the families who can’t afford to send their kids away. These are the parents who always help on school trips and at galas and fundraising events. They are also the families who are first in line at parent interviews.

I would recommend that every ICT facilitator, every instructional technologist, every district superintendant to go in and set up a computer for a real life family.

Go in and talk about what concerns them about ICTs in classrooms and in schools. Sit down and have a chat about the kind of assignments that their kids are being set and the sort of resources that they are being asked to use. Have a chat about the computers that families are using and the issues that they are facing. Talk about the assessment criteria and the rubrics that comes home in the bottom of a school bag.The amazing thing about setting up a computer is that there is time to chew the fat, to talk about the stuff that really matters.

It’s interesting. And even though I am a parent of an intermediate (13 years old next week) school age child, I am continually levelled by the discussions that I have with other Mums and Dads. We all want the best for our kids. Some of us don’t know what is best and so we are guided by what our noisiest child says or by the next deadline. The only people that we can discuss this with are our neighbours or the parents of our kids’ friends. Many of us are quite computer savvy but we inhabit a very different world to that of our children so our knowledge is rendered useless.

I’m not sure what the answer is. But I do think we need to start talking to ALL of the stakeholders.

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