A Teacher’s Thoughts

There seems to be an undercurrent buzz of “So what” coursing around the edublogosphere lately. Perhaps it is the continued tiresome rush of new tools flooding the web and our desire to play with them. There is nothing wrong with playing with these new tools. Are we not modeling curiosity, exploration and learning in doing so? But with so many new tools coming online, I don’t think it is possible to adapt them quickly to classroom use or to truly understand their power within the classroom.

Certainly pedagogy and therefore classroom practice need to evolve, but how quickly can we expect these to evolve. In order to perfect classroom practice, teachers should consider themselves collectors of data and evidence. That takes time. And in the time it takes to decide and plan how a new technology will help students meet key learning targets, new tools will come out. And in the time it takes to implement and evaluate a plan, more new tools will come out.

I saw Will Richardson speak on Friday morning at the ACTEM sponsored Learning in a 2.0 World. I was worried that he would be down on some of this new technology from reading the post he made before his trip to Maine. But, happily his talk was great. He did, however, elude to this crush of time, tools and ideas.

So how can we feel good? How can we get past this nagging, “So What?” that is there?
First, recognize that asking “So What?” means you are a good teacher. Second, realize that most of the specific tools we may use or try may not be around in ten years, but specific techniques and technologies will. Blogging, or personal publishing, for example will likely persist because of its proven strength. What will the tool be and will it consist of just one? That we don’t know. Will wikis survive? Maybe, but collaborative publishing is not likely to go anywhere. What is important will stand the test of time. In a world of rapidly changing technologies it can be tiresome to see through to the core ideas that can enhance our practice.

So because we want what is best for our kids and because we believe we are living in a world that is rapidly changing we play with these tools in hopes of finding new ways to engage and excite students about learning. As we teach and work with our students, as we connect to them as individuals we will see applications for the tools we have encountered ourselves our read about. Just put the learning first.