Do we really need all this technology?

This past Saturday was another inspiring EdCamp.  The time spent talking with fellow educators about education is priceless, and even worth giving up the only sunny Saturday in what feels like months. One of the sessions that I attended was a presentation entitled "A Vast and Troubling Shift: We embrace technology but should we?" by Mike Carty and Marc Mancinelli. I was a little disappointed that more of my fellow EdCampers were not drawn to the session as I thought it held great promise for a needed conversation, and I was not wrong.
As a technology coach it is my job to try to get people to use technology in the classroom, but I also think it is my responsibility to ponder why we are using technology in the classroom. As I write this post on my MacBook Pro (hooked up to a second monitor), with my ipad next to my, near the glow of my Google lamp, there is no doubt that I embrace technology. However, that does not mean that I should stop to think every once in a while about what we are doing in our schools.
On this same subject I was just required to read a great post entitled "Using Technology Without Understanding It by Clay Burrell for a graduate class that I am taking. In his blog Burell responds to a student editorial that critiques the use of technology in the classroom.  I was not surprised by the student's position, as just last year I had students in my Media Studies class create mini-documentaries about their "Digital Life" and found that most were heavily critical of technology in the classroom.  I did find Burell's response refreshing and enlightening.  He did a wonderful job of summarizing a lot of what I have been thinking about in the days since EdCamp. So here is my bulleted list summary to answer the question "Do we really need all this technology?"

• Technology is neither good or bad, it is a tool, like any tool that only serves the purpose of the human being that is using the tool. 
• Our students are not a skilled in the use of the tool as they would like to think that they are.
• Teachers must learn to use to use these new tools in ways that broaden our student's perspective and not just in ways that amuse them.

We do a great disservice to the next generation when we reinforce their belief that the internet is nothing more than a place to chat with your friends, and post silly pictures of yourself.  We need to show them that YouTube is a place not a site to find videos that make you laugh, but videos that make you learn.  We need to show them that Facebook is not just a site to post about the movie that you just went to see, but a place to organize a revolution. 


What the discussion and the article really made me realize even more clearly than before that my job is not to make sure that the teachers in my district can skillfully use new technologies, but to ensure that they can do so meaningfully.    

4 Months later

I started this blog 4 months ago with the intention of blogging on a regular basis... and then school started.  Wham! All teachers know the feeling of running on a treadmill while juggling eight or nine balls hoping you can just make it to the end of the semester without dropping any of them or falling flat on your face.  But I decided that I can't wait until I have time to blog, I need to make time to blog.  Why?  Because things happen too quickly, and I need to reflect. Without reflection we cannot improve, and I desperately want to continue to improve my teaching and more importantly my students learning.

Perfectionism in Teaching

It is 11pm on a Saturday night and I am furiously trying to make sure that I have the worlds greatest lesson plans for Monday morning. Tomorrow I have a wedding to go to (yes a wedding on a Sunday, on the day before the first student day of school!). I will get nothing done tomorrow, so I need to be ready to go today. So what have I accomplished... nada. I am still perfecting my website, syllabuses, lessons, etc. I don't think they are much better then they were 4 hours ago when my brain was still functional. In proof that it was not functional I accidentally turned on the transliteration feature in blogger (आईटी'स प्रेत्टी कूल, बुत नोट वैरी गुड इफ यू दोन'टी स्पेअक हिंदी), and it took me 5 minutes to figure out how to turn it off. I am not ready for Monday, but I must recognize that I will never be ready enough.

So tonight I sleep, tomorrow I celebrate, and Monday.... I teach!

My Blog

So I am finally blogging. You would think this would be simple, but alas it took me almost a year to get this first post up. First I had to decide what blogging platform I wanted to use, then a name, and then it took me eons to pick a theme! Seriously, I am not sure I could tell you what the themes look like on of any of the blogs that I love to read, but for some reason it really mattered to me. The worst part was writing this first post. I have written and deleted a lot of text on my way to this first post which says not much of anything. I suppose in the end it was easiest to write first about nothing and then progress to the more serious stuff.
So here it is, my first blog post. I hope it will be the first of many.