The Ramblings of Potential Insanity:


Over the past eight months, I have personally and professionally come to embrace the relevance and rigor that on line, web-based technologies afford the learner, in both an classroom setting, as well as a individual learning experience. I want to qualify myself at this point as a convert, a person who truly believes that my professional involvement in education has seamlessly adopted these new tools and the pedagogy that accompanies them. However, I am still struggling with where all of this is going, and I would like to share with you several thoughts (more like ramblings) and questions that have come about as a result of my participation in this educational revolution.

First: As I read about the revolutionary capabilities of these technologies, and the push to promote the adoption of these technologies, I cannot help but think that the movement for change may be unrealistic in the near future. In may own classroom experience these past eight months, I have battled with the lack of technologies both in the home, and in the classroom. As a member of a group of teachers within the district I teach, pursuing the proliferation of these wonderful tools, I cannot help but dwell on the issue of finances, availability, and the cultural dilemma we all are confronted with. Example: As the first member of the staff pushing the use of blogs, wikis, and online tools of collaboration, I had little difficulty in securing the means within the school, to educate the students, and promote the growth and usage of these technologies. However, as time passes, more and more teachers are beginning to adopt these strategies, and we are developing a situation where the current quantity, and foreseeable technologies available, may begin to fall short of the necessary needs of both the staff and the students. Now, I would like to point out that we have at Iroquois, possibly the greatest amount of support from our administration, and no one would like to see this educational revolution occur more than our very own superintendent, who himself has embraced these technologies in a very unique and successful manner. However, there is the reality of finances. No community, nor state, can expect to meet the growing demands of this type of technological change occurring within classrooms, without incurring the rath of taxpayers on a local, state, or even national level. Furthermore, many of the districts I have looked at, do not have in place ample infrastructure to accommodate the technologies being discussed. What compounds my concern is the cultural view of technology within the family. I can honestly state that my fourth grade daughter will have her own tablet within two years, as I plan on replacing the current model I am blogging with tonight. We also plan on affording the same opportunity to our other three children. This is a financial choice my family has made because we see the value in raising our children with these tools. I would also like to add that we have wireless, and four computers in our household. However, what about the family that cannot afford such luxuries, or fail to recognize the value in buying computers instead of T.V.s or SUVs. As more and more teachers within the district adopt these technologies, how does a family with multiple children, receiving multiple assignments that use these tools, logistically support that type of academic environment. What about the parents, whose mortgage payments depend on seat time in front of the family computer? How are they going to adjust to their children's academic work load when multiple teachers begin assigning on line collaborative projects, similar to the ones I currently assign? Are we looking at the end of reasonable bedtimes, in order to met the family schedule for computer time? Are we looking for government to afford tax-breaks, similar to fuel efficient automobiles, to anyone who purchases a computer for academic or home business use? How can we expect those families, not in-tune with the changing global approach to education to throw hard earned cash at something that may very well be low on the priority list?

Secondly: In a recent hour-long conversation with a twenty-something employee from Microsoft, we began to discuss the future of the traditional school as we know it today. Now I realize there exists many new platforms such as Second Life, and other virtual learning communities out there, but I think that it would not be prudent on the part of educational leaders, to think that the traditional forces of supply and demand will catapult these platforms ahead of the traditional institution of education that exists in our current model, especially when you combine this thought with the first point made previous in this blog. That being said, how can a school, bombarded with quickly evolving technologies, and a growing sense of urgency, construct an environment that meets the technological needs of the immediate transformation occurring in education. Wireless is great, and I know for a fact that there are several model districts out there who have adopted this approach. I also recognize the value in a laptop rich academic environment that affords, not only teachers, but also the students a of district, the opportunity to develop a truly exploratory and collaborative form of education. But I get the sense out there that we are becoming a technological bull in a china shop. With the growing pressure to transform education, we are beginning to allocate financial resources toward an immediate adoption of technology, without addressing some real hard questions, in particular, security, funding, training, and longevity. No one wants to commit financial resources that will be viewed five years from now as a band aid.

Which brings me to several observations, and please recognize I am not a naysayer. I believe this is the future of not only our educational system, but our world. Currently, many teachers, schools, and nations for that matter, are running the race of the hare. There does not seem to be any consensus as to what a 21st century student will need. Yes, we can clarify that much of traditional taxonomy still holds true; however, we have not yet dealt with the value of content. How can our math and sciences, so badly in need of attention, accomplish the necessary outcomes while diminishing the value of content. What about liberal arts? Where do the arts and history fit in? Why is it that overarching frameworks of content, such as the need for individuals to understand the importance of political, economic, social, religious, intellectual, and artistic institutions on a historical level, lose out to higher order thinking. I realize that most knowledge is just a keystroke away, but wouldn't our civilization be better off with well-rounded individuals who have a foundation of knowledge, similar to that of the 20th century educational model?

Thirdly: Young people, in particular the youth of America, need intellectual and social discipline. Are we preparing a generation of individuals, who will be educated with such intellectual freedoms that are so unique to this point in history, that they might not be able to appropriately function within the demands of the "real" world? How will the generational gap be addressed in the real world. How does a forty-something, who has been a part of a defined business world, function next to an individual who is being educated in a virtual world, that has greater flexibility of time and schedule, than any previous generation? Are we on the verge of seeing the tail wag the dog?

The more I read from the educational community in this blogosphere, the more I question the radicalization of schooling. The discussion of academic change, from all observations, may be at an inappropriate and irresponsible pace. We know the positive impact that these technologies have on individual learning, and that digitizing and globalizing the academic environment may have the greatest influence of knowledge since Gutenberg's press; however, shouldn't prudence and planning precede such radical evolution. With teachers screaming for administration to "tear down the walls" and all of these technologies being used by a growing number of the world educators, wouldn't it serve our interests if we used these technologies to develop a national, or international congress of education (forgive the verbage).

The irony of this post lies in the fact that I will be participating in a classroom environment over the next two days, that has my very own students, addressing a problem solving issue of World War II. Each community of practice within each class, will have utilized digital text, formed a group in diigo and social bookmark their topic, collaborate on line using skype and vyew, to produce a portion of the class wiki, and a fifteen minute power point presentation or podcast, discussing their findings. I will then take this example and present it to a group of teachers at a regional conference called "Riding the Digital Wave", in the hopes of convincing others to take the righteous path that appears to be more frequently taken these days. Talk about insanity!

Community of Participation
Practicing and Preaching Collaboration

I am enjoying a professional rebirth here in the Iroquois Central School District. I, along with several teachers and administrators, have been able to develop a Community of Practice. This is nothing new, professional communities have been a part of mainstream change in industry forever. However, I have never been a part of one, let alone one of the facilitators.

The objective of this community is to promote change within our high school, with the hope that this will spin out towards the other levels within the district. I cannot help but be excited with the potential this community presents to the staff and students at Iroquois. I am meeting tomorrow with two curriculum specialists from the regional Board of Cooperative Educational Services and hope that this community comes up in our discussion.

The concept I enjoy throwing around most is the potential gravitational pull this community can have on those teachers who are reluctant to dip their toe into the instructional world of technology. With a collective community of hundreds of years of expertise and online tools of collaboration so readily available, no better way to share ideas and best practices. This is our way of changing our own little corner of the world.

Wow!!! It Has Been A Long Time:


Did you ever wonder what makes an individual lose interest in something? Is it laziness, boredom, apathy, or exhaustion? Recently, a light bulb burned out in a stairwell in my house. Now, if you knew the layout of my house, that particular light bulb plays a very important role in illuminating a safe passage down a flight of stairs. I don't know what it was, but that bulb took several days to change. I was a pretty big light bulb but I am a pretty handy guy. I can't help but feel my absence as a blogger for nearly a month, has somehow diminished my worthiness to participate in this community. I almost feel like the athlete who struggles back to a comfort zone with their teammates, after having experienced an injury. I know it sound ridiculous, after all, no one is out there keeping track. But I just feel odd and cannot quite put my finger on it. Maybe it is the pace of change, or it's that I am finding the echo chamber reverberating back the same message, and I sometimes feels like I am back in a faculty lounge.

There has been a great deal of discussion regarding what to call this educational shift and how slow it seems change is occurring. Maybe I am reading this incorrectly, but that is what I've discovered. I cannot begin to describe the personal and professional transformation I have experienced as a result of having been introduced to all of these technologies last July. I share with many of you the observations as to how my individual learning styles and capacities have changed, all for the better, since discovering the power of web based tools. I cannot help but feel transformed. But I've stopped writing and I am not quite sure why. I don't believe that it's from a decline in my enthusiasm. Anyone looking for me between the hours of 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m., can easily find me reading my bloglines, and discovering new ideas, in the comfort of my family room. Maybe I am becoming absorbed in transforming my own little world (room 208), or that I am avoiding the grand fight of transforming the educational culture. For what ever reason, I have stopped writing and wonder if something is broken. I have missed it tremendously, but I feel like there may not be anything of significance to say. I thought that getting back into the game a little, and shacking off the dust, may be all I need.

On one particular night, around 11:30 p.m., I read a post by Clay Burell, a neat and creative idea regarding students developing podcasts for history. I went to bed, and tossed and turned for nearly an hour. I had a freight train of ideas running through my head, and there's not a lot of room up there. My wife nearly asked me to sleep in the family room. The other day, while washing the dishes in my kitchen, I began to become so absorbed with the development of a collaborative project using diigo, I washed the same glass for nearly five minutes. In preparing for an upcoming conference, I realized the irony of the 41 slide power point presentation I had developed to inform the participants of these tools. I feel like I am turning into the Richard Dreyfus character in the 1977 classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. You know the guy who builds the model of Devil's Tower in his living room.

Why do we begin to complicate our lives by taking on the challenges such as educational reform Why should a 39 year old married father of four begin a professional transformation that redefines priorities and diminishes time on the ski slopes? In a skype conversation with another blogger, I explained the sleepless nights, the obsessive hunger to clear my bloglines, and the hypnotic control these technologies have over my creative energies. He laughed and stated "you appear to be headed on to bigger and better things." I don't know if that is necessarily true, I don't have my administration degree, and I have some pretty deep roots in the district I teach.

What I began to realize was, I, like so many of you, have the opportunity to be a part of something truly historical, and much bigger than any one of us. When I graduated from St. Bonaventure University in the spring of 1989, I never envisioned a world like the one we live in today. I never envisioned the profession of education, being as much in a state of future flux as it is today. No one knows for the first time, what the future holds for education. Will the institution of education as we know it today, still be in existence 5, 10, 20 years from now? Will the school two miles from my home, remain the heart of the community I live in, or will that change as well. I don't know what the future holds, but I know that I am very excited to be a part of it. When I was ten, I got a chance to be one of the first guys from my neighborhood to ride a new roller coaster at the regional amusement park. I didn't sit in the front seat, nor was I in the back. I probably sat about four rows from the front. I definitely enjoyed the ride, and took a little pride in being so far toward the front and one of the first to ride.

Maybe, as a teacher, I am experiencing a close encounter of the professional kind, riding an educational roller coaster of change. All I need to do is figure out where to sit, and what to build.

Our superintendent, Neil Rochelle shares with us several thoughts on a daily basis. His emails usually includes this poem from Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Don't waste life in doubts and fears; spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours and ages that will follow."

Maybe it's as simple as that.