Technology In Education Online

Continuing my random thoughts theme from my first FETC 2008 post, I’ll continue on.  I’m waiting the opening session to start and thought I’d put down my thinking from conversations today. So here they go:

I like wireless wireless access where ever I go.  I don’t like when I keep getting dropped off. It makes working while at the conference so much easier since a lot of my work these days is web-based. I just have to get over my need to plug-in for electricity. Can we have some type of solar or self generating power supply?

We need to move away from our fear factor.  Why do I say that? While sitting down for the opening session <strong>The Journal</strong> sitting on my chair listed on its’ cover “Handle With Care” In the wrong hands school PCs can be agents of improper even unlawful activity.  I’m not discounting the need for security, but when our focus is on this fear factor we lose track of the positives and focus on the negatives.  This is true of many of the Web 2.0 tools students use.   We must move away from this if we are to keep up with today’s students.  We can flourish using these creative, interactive, student driven tools.

Educational Leaders must be just that!  I had a great discussion with another presenter today discussing this issue.  How can we move away from NCLB and teaching to the test mentality if our educational leaders of our schools only perpetuate the status quo? If they only focus on test scores or padding their own resume then they have lost focus on what educational leaders should be.  If we are truly going to move towards a more constructivist approach to education, with technology integration being one of the many tools, then we must expect more.

Appearance is nothing. This piggy-backs off of #3.  If technology is about what looks good rather than how to better integrate technology then we are missing the boat.  Is it about show, how it appears to the community?  If this is true, then what are we to expect of our students?  As I walked around the vendor area I have a whole new outlook on how I assess what they are selling.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the first ones to jump at the “cool” stuff. But when I take a step back and assess what value it has my perspective has changed dramatically.

Technology isn’t just about standards, security, test scores, cool devices and nice looking reports.  Again I refer to #4 above. I don’t dispel these things I just don’t think they are the end pieces.  If we purchase these types of programs that generate these great looking reports with graphs and charts are we simply presenting them to our BOE to make it look good?  I don’t mean to be a cynic, I’m just a little tired of how people bend and twist technology into being the pacifier of accountability.

And so ends my latest random thoughts for the day.