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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Reflections when asked about tech in the classroom

As a parent of a 4y and 2 yr old and a very engaged dad, I can speak to the juggling aspect of what we do. My wife, also a teacher, works for an online school, so while she's able to stay home her nights are spent playing catch up and answering emails.

I think my only advice (as if you were asking for any) would be to take in what you can, keep up with what's important to you, but to understand that this is a transformational stage in education as we know it. Your feed can be a drip or a fire hose, it's what you need and can manage.

The shift is occurring due to the needs and wants of our students, and those that will be employing them in the future. If we're preparing them for life in the business world, keeping them disconnected in schools or away from these sites and tools may be more harm than good. We should make decisions in schools based on the needs of the students, not their parents in my opinion.


When I think about tests being measurable and that being a motivator for some, maybe even some admin but I look at my 4 and 2 yr old and I don't want the school I went to and my parents went to. I want a highly engaged, connected classroom, whether that is in seat or virtual, we'll see.

I believe that students passions and extensive use to tech at home is exactly why we need to model safe and ethical use, while enhancing curriculum through the use of collaborative tools, virtual interaction, and direct instruction on how to best use their medium. Should their educational experience be centered around it, no , but it should be enhanced by it.

Here's a recently released piece from the ED.GOV

1 comment:

Evy said...
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