Friday, November 18, 2011

Talking About Tech

Christine Sturgeon, the K-12 Librarian and Tech Integrationist at Manson Northwest Webster sent out a tweet from the ITEC conference that went something like this, “We need to do a better job of talking about why technology is important.” Wow, how true! If we believe that tech is important, then we’d better be able to defend it, answer questions about it, have a conversation as to its value, and articulate the role it plays in 21st Century Learning.

I think everyone will agree that while technology has never been viewed as the silver bullet that will guarantee improved student learning, it plays a vital role in preparing our students for their future. As Michael Fullan writes in his recent article, “Choosing the Wrong Drivers,” technology shouldn’t be one of the main drivers of any district’s school improvement. I agree with that, but will also say that it deserves to be a front seat passenger.

When folks question the value of technology by saying texts and paper are less expensive, we can say, of course that’s true. But that’s not the issue. That’s not even a logical argument. We are preparing our students for a world after high school and we can’t deny that technology is significant part of the world we live in, so let's be able to talk about it!

1 comment:

  1. Laura, a few of us new teachers visited BCLUW where, as you know, great things are happening. In one presentation, a teacher articulated their justification for 1:1. She said that it is motivating to students (and helps them in their non-school work too by narrowing that digital divide) and it addresses the need of life-long learning (in whatever job students will have in the future, they will use technology and we're helping them prepare for that). My favorite reason they mentioned, though, was that every class taught is important. When they had laptop carts and computer labs, core classes or those taught by veteran teachers had more access to that technology. But every class is important and deserves the same access to tech. 1:1 allows that.

    Sorry I'm just seeing this, but thanks for the mention! :)

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