Learn to adapt your lessons if you find yourself assigned to a room with little more than a whiteboard. Accept that spontaneity is out and plan ahead. Allow extra time to create handouts and make copies, and get used to writing everything down on the board; otherwise your lessons and students will suffer. Consider placing a request to have a media cart delivered to your room, but understand that the forms must be submitted at least ten days in advance each time technology is needed.
Anticipate that even when you get a Master Classroom (computer, overhead projector and DVD and VHS players controlled with a keypad), the technology may malfunction. Test everything out before students arrive. Having technical support staff inspect equipment and uncover improperly installed or missing wires is preferable to making students wait while witnessing your struggles. Jeff Grinvalds, author of the article "Technology in the Classroom: How to Reduce the Glitches" advises, that "until you have time to work through a new piece of technology and feel comfortable using it, you shouldn't attempt to use it in front of an audience."
Set aside a few days to discover who knows how to use the cart options and is willing to share what they know with you, which may require scheduling an appointment. Get to know the quirks of using the carts, such as selecting buttons on the keypad and on the media players and how to maneuver the cart to place it in the best spot so that projected images reach the screen, issues that require time and patience to resolve.
Expect that many support staff will consider themselves too busy to offer spur-of-the moment help. Keeping a cheerful demeanor and being persistent in your requests for help, mentioning the benefits to the students, may sway someone to actually accompany you to your classroom to show you how to use the technology or provide you with contact information for technical support. Building your own support team and keeping their numbers handy can reduce problems, especially if help is needed immediately.
Take it upon yourself to find technology training opportunities, as these may be poorly advertised. Participating in a workshop or scheduling a one-on-one training session with a technical support person can give you the experience needed to become comfortable with technology and better equipped to troubleshoot inevitable glitches.
Ask students where they stand on technology. In "McKeachie's Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teacher" authors Wilbert McKeachie and Marilla Svinicki advise, "It is important not to assume that all students have had the same exposure and access to the technology you plan to use in class." Use technology purposefully and instruct students how to use whatever technology you require to avoid frustration and allow successful completion of projects.