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!