The Voyage

Time’s cover story next week How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century is very compelling indeed.  This first paragraph says it all:

There’s a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak: Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls–every place Rip goes just baffles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. “This is a school,” he declares. “We used to have these back in 1906. Only now the blackboards are green.” 

Are we, as a nation, truly prepared to reform and revive our public education system?

Can we see that our children are our investment in the future?  The debate over the future of their education should be moved from the back burner to the forefront.  It should be as impassioned as the debates on global warming, AIDS and The War on Terrorism.  I, for one, am prepared to take up arms and join this fight.  The time is now and the place is America.

As I was reading this article I began to realize that my perception that video games are a negative influence on learning was incorrect.  It was my opinion, based solely on my observations of a family member who would play as if possessed, for hours on end, distancing himself completely from the rest of the family.  My feelings were pure resentment for this inanimate box that came into my house and stole away my spouse leaving only an empty, non-responsive shell in his place.  I love to disprove myths so this article spoke to me.  It was a challenge of sorts.    While I don’t necessarily agree that all eight myths were debunked my opinion has changed on a few of them and for mostly the same reasons.  Most notably Myth #7: Video game play is socially isolating.  Yes, it can be but I firmly believe it’s all about balance.  It’s up to me, as a parent, to insure that my child doesn’t spend too much time isolated and alone.  I should limit her time, be with her in the same room while she’s playing and talk to her about her experiences.  Video games are inanimate objects that we bring to life.  They are not meant to replace the human experience.   

Also, Myths #1, 2, 5 and 8 are intertwined.  Yes, there is an increase in violence in our society and yes, our children are being desensitized but neither is a direct result of video games.  We should look to TV newscasts, cable and network TV programming and major motion pictures as one of the largest vehicles transporting violence into our lives.  Video games are an effect, not a cause. It is a giant stride forward for me to admit that I even read this article by MIT Professor Henry Jenkins.  I have been ardently against video games for so long that my intolerance level had even begun to annoy me!  I’m glad that I loosened up enough to give this a read.

With school budget deadlines looming, districts all over the country are scrambling to create viable Technology Vision Statements and Action Plans.  I’ve been surfing around the net looking at other district’s Vision Statements and seeing how they compare to ours which is still work in progress.

One of the most difficult tasks facing ed tech directors nation wide is the mobility rate of superintendents whose average stay in a school district is now 18 months (still looking for that source to cite but can’t locate the link.)  In fact, some contracts stipulate only an 18 month term subject to performance review.  With transitions that frequent a good, solid plan with the school board’s backing needs to be in place in order to implement change. 

Here are links to some of the districts whose tech plans I liked:

http://www.kodiak.k12.ak.us/tec/tpvisbel.html

http://www.lynnschools.org/technology_benchmarks.htm

http://www.bham.wednet.edu/technology/documents/2004Apr28RevTechPlan.pdf

There were many plans out there to consider but some of the things that impressed me the most were the plans that entertained creative strategies for implementing professional development in light of funding cuts.  Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), stipends, technology hardware upgrades for teachers/mentors and PDPs are but a few methods being considered.  There are some great ideas out there.  Here’s hoping our district becomes one of those that implements some of them and succeeds in moving into the 21st century!

The beauty of my role as a technology facilitator in a K-12 public school district is that I get to work with staff members at every grade level, age and technological ability.  It is equally challenging and rewarding and there truly is never a dull moment.  I get to share moments of frustration, embarrassment and triumph, oftentimes in a five minute time span!

Kidding aside, I’m starting to wonder if there should be a minimum level of proficiency required to become an educator.  Who should the burden be placed upon?  Should there be minimum technology requirements for educators before completion of a degree program or should the hiring school district provide a “window” for requirements to be met?  Who decides what the requirements should be?  Should they be state mandated standards or ISTE standards?

I don’t know the legal ramifications of making technology proficiency a part of existing employee’s recertification but I’m sure there are some.  Educators facing the twilight of their careers will most likely want to be grandfathered somehow.  I’m sure it’ll make some folks unhappy.  What are other districts doing to make this a reality? Are they facing opposition or is it being warmly embraced?  Is it attracting more qualified educators?  I wonder about it all and where we will go with it as a district.  How can we expect to teach standards that we ourselves, as educators, cannot meet?

“To be effective, technology certification for educators needs to be part of formal education policy and a required element of school and teacher evaluations. . . . Educators need a system of technology training and certification.”

Council on Basic Education, 1998.

“The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance. “

Socrates (469 BC – 399 BC)

That was the message attached to my green tea bag this morning.  I shared Socrates’ sentiments with my colleague Carl when he came to reheat his coffee in my office this morning.  Carl teaches Greek and Latinat Barnstable High School.  Occasionally we try to solve the problems of the world in the six minute window between  classes.  He shares his love of teaching, learning and life that is very apparent in our discussions.  We cover some very deep, philosophical topics in those brief moments.  He often quotes the wisdom of great, ancient philosophers like Plato, Aristotle and of course, Socrates.  Carl takes pride in explaining his lesson plan of the day and treating me to a translation from Greek or Latin to English, breaking out the root words and coaxing me to figure out the meaning myself. 

Carl is a modern-day Socrates. Yet, unlike Socrates, Carl appreciates the value of the written word and enjoys reading, among other things, blogs.  He believes that in this Age of Information Literacy we are morally obligated to teach the importance of integrity to our students, for knowledge can become evil in the hands of those who haven’t been taught to use it responsibly.

Yes Carl, Socrates was so right!