Really? Am I writing this post, my third one in a week, (News Alert Humans Like to Socialize and Shackled By Fear) about how computers and the Internet are ruining our children’s lives? More importantly are you reading it? Are we not past this topic yet? News flash! The use of technology, whatever that nebulous term even means, is changing the world and nowhere is this shift more apparent than in our schools. Why? Because most schools are based on antiquated models of what learning used to look like. We can bemoan the fact that students no longer want to sit dopey eyed in rows and hear us ramble on and on about whatever we feel is the most important thing in the world, but really wouldn’t it be better if we started to learn how to bridge our two worlds?
We’ve all heard it before; I am not saying anything new, which begs the question why am I writing this post? Why are you reading? Why can’t we seem to move forward? Why do we need a six-page New York Times article telling us that teenagers are distracted and Facebooking instead of reading novels?
My main gripe and perhaps the impetus of my new crusade is that I refuse to be polarized by the Ed-tech evangelists and the paranoid chalk and talk dinosaurs. I refuse to be forced to make a choice between the book and the computer, between the organic and the digital, between a walk in the woods and a flight through second life, between “real” and virtual life. I refuse to believe that there is only one way to reach young people today. I want to be able to reach them on their level by helping them understand identity creation and digital footprints, but I also want to reach them on their level by taking trips into nature where we write poetry about what we see. There is a middle ground between kids watching Brain Pop videos and creating Power Point videos no one will ever see and calling it integrated technology, and doing worksheets; it is called teaching. It is not the technology that is distracting kids, it is the irrelevance of what we are teaching them and our inability to make it meaningful. You can teach under a tree with a piece of chalk if the kids are buying what you are selling. How do you do that, you may ask? Well that is the million-dollar question isn’t it? I am still learning. That’s the beauty of teaching.
This latest article epitomizes this polarity. Offering examples of exasperated teachers who can’t get their students to read a book versus the cool guy teacher, who is teaching them how to use Pro-Tools, doesn’t help our understanding. We simply cannot make students, teachers, and parents choose between being connected and “tech savvy” and “Old School.” There has to be a middle ground. Where are the stories about teachers who have infused technology to make it ubiquitous like air, (Love that Chris Lehmann quote) so that students can use their talents and newly found knowledge to change the world? Where are the stories about teachers who with passion and love of literature have convinced seventh graders that the pages in a novel can be just as excited or more so that a Facebook feed. I mean really, do we have such little faith in literature that we think a text message is competing with John Steinbeck? If you believe in what you teach and you make it relevant for your students there is nothing they won’t stop doing to follow where you lead.
It is still possible to connect to students without bells and whistles and show them the beauty of well-written prose or the magic of science. I am tired of both sides thinking that students will only learn and stay engaged if the teacher offers a technological carrot. I can no longer, with a straight face say, “It is about the learning and not the tools.” I cannot say that teachers need to create and build meaningful relationships with their students based on trust and honesty if they want them to read on their own.
I could go on and on, but you have heard it all before, and unfortunately most people who will read this post already agree with me, so maybe this connected technology is not as great as it appears. Besides, I have a movie to start editing and I am feeling a bit distracted after reading a six-page article. Maybe, if I can get my work done in time I can actually curl up with a good book. It is really a collection of online columns. Does that count?
Well said. I’m a father of four children (and a teacher). My children love technology – games, videos, Skype calls with relatives, surfing the web, and researching online for upcoming family travel itineraries, but they also love to play soccer, go fishing, help cook a meal, read a good book, and make visits to the zoo. The key is that all those things are engaging and meaningful. They hate when I lecture too much or when I don’t ask them what they think or how they feel. During those times, they tune out, reach for the DS, or just disregard what I have to say. They hate filling out worksheets or following the “step-by-step ways to get an A” on a project, but they love writing an original story or creating a rug to go under the Christmas tree. Why do students connect with social media? They find it meaningful. Should they learn to concentrate on the task at hand even when it’s boring? Probably. But shouldn’t we teachers, leaders, and shapers of tomorrow consider what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how we might make what must be done as meaningful as possible? Probably.
While I agree with you, I am afraid the thrill that comes with smelling a real book is waning rapidly. I see a future where nearly all consumption of media is done digitally. I don’t think books will disappear, but I believe most text will be read on a screen.
I don’t really care how the information is delivered though. I am excited by the ease of which great books can be found and obtained online. I think we may actually see a resurgence of great works being read.
In the meantime, any real time or effort spent arguing about which tool is more appropriate is a waste of our time, let the students choose. It is their right, it is their learning.
As digital continues to take over, i predict a decrease in books. Why write a book when i can just write a bunch of blog posts? Why spend the time creating a long, thoughtful argument (or reading one for that matter) when I can just spout off on twitter?
There is a real bias in our technologies – in the case of the open-source digital world we are likely doomed to be consumed by amateurism and brevity.
While I agree that some information is being shorten, I think it is unfair and inaccurate to say that everything is being taken over by amateurism. Yes the pool of expertise has been watered down by giving everyone a voice, but we shouldn’t romantically look back to the good ole days, we can as stewards of prose and lovers of knowledge continue to set a high standard.
I don’t believe in the death of the book because I believe in literature. I believe in the power of the word as a human necessity. We can shake our heads and say that books are on the way out and complain about the brevity of thoughts, or we can produce content and ideas that runs contrary to that thinking.
But you are not alone. Read what @cogdog has to say: http://cogdogblog.com/2010/11/22/like-web/
Lovely thoughts!
My favorite: I refuse to be polarized by the Ed-tech evangelists and the paranoid chalk and talk dinosaurs.
It’s not just feast or famine, is it…we find success (likely in everything) through balance, and focusing on student learning, on good teaching and instruction, no matter the forum: paper or screen.
Well said!
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You should have been a fly on the wall in my house as I was yelling to my husband, Why is this still news? Kids distracted by technology yadda yadda yadda. How can this be on the FRONT PAGE of the New York Times. It is beyond irritating to me. And it is really a story about kids (or should I say a kid) who can’t manage their time and have parents that let them sit in their rooms in front of screens for hours without supervision. This is not an education problem.
On the other hand, I do agree that on some level it has become more important for schools to teach kids how to interact face-to-face. I have a presentation to our board of trustees on “Balancing Innovation and Tradition in a Rapidly Changing World.” In my student population, where students have so much access to technology at home, I am finding it more important to have discussions in school and then direct their technology use at home.
You were right, the people reading this agree with you, but it is nice to know that I’m not alone! Thanks for writing it so well.
I work at a 1:1 school and I agree with what you said about, ” finding it more important to have discussions in school and then direct their technology use at home. ”
I think we all agree that there needs to be a balance. It’s just so frustrating to get the polarized views.
Thanks for the insight. I enjoyed it.
As Mr. Jim Collins has said, it’s not about technology. In my opinion it’s about developing connected relationships, having high expectations and holding people in the school accountable to the mission and vision. Technology is a big part of the puzzle, but chalk, in the correct environment, would suffice. Thanks again!
here’s a surprise from me: it IS about the technology. The technology carries a message with it. I firmly believe the way that most teachers use technology is eroding any progress that has been made in education over the last 100 years. No longer do we want kids to create, we want them to mash. No longer are kids digesting, their sharing. No longer are kids thinking at high levels and evaluating, their crowd sourcing. This IS about the technology, but not in the ways most want to talk about it.
Now, if we can recognize these problems with technology (instead of naively embracing it), perhaps…..perhaps, we’ll be able to avoid the erosion that is happening just beneath the surface.
Listen Jerrid,
I appreciate and agree with much of your thoughts, at least what I have seen briefly, about the need to be critical of technology. I am sure we share many thoughts on the need for students to create, to digest, to think at high levels and evaluate, but I think you may have missed the point of my post. There has to be a middle ground. We cannot be so critical of the technology so that we do not see the usefulness of these new ways of thinking and sharing.
Like most people in the world I am flummoxed and awed by how much my life has changed in the last five years due to technology and the sense of empowerment it has given me. Now I just want to try and understand the effects it is having on society as a whole. I agree that we shouldn’t not naively embrace what we do not understand, but I hope you see my point that not all teachers are setting education back 100 years because they are using Voicethread.
I know the Edtechorati can work themselves up in a tizzy, but let us quietly go about our work, together in small communities and see how we can move education forward for teh next 100 years.