Adopt and Adapt

Thank goodness somebody finally addressed my biggest complaint about teaching with technology! I am so glad that Edutopia recognizes that even though we all have at least one computer in our room, it is mostly used to do old things in old ways, like sending email to teachers everyday, trading lesson plans, and posting grades. This doesn't mean we are techonologically savvy at all, just that we are gradually becoming a paperless society (notice I said gradually!). Until everyone in administration of local schools and in the Federal Department of Education gets on board with the necessity of using technology in our planning and practice, hardly anything will be done on a large scale. I am not sure if this will happen soon, or until a new generation of teachers, administrators, legislators, and superintendants come into the mix. The "immigrants" are still too conservative and need to wisen up, if you ask me. My hope is that all of those new to the teaching profession who have been introduced to the benefits of teaching with technology will help move things along by affecting change in their classrooms, schools, and communities.
Something else positive that I picked up on in the article was the section that asks: "How do we move forward?" BY asking students what they know, pre-assessing if you will, and combining that with what we know, I can't even begin to imagine what will be done. It will be amazing. I already have plans to try and reserve the computer lab at whatever school I will be working next year once a week, to allow students to be introduced to a new tool each week for the first month or two of school, and utilize a school blog as well. I think it will not only encourage the use of the internet as an educational tool, but will also help build community in the classroom.
I did see something that worries me, only because I am not sure about its implications. One section of the article discusses the idea that students each need a personal device for computing that will become an extension of his or her brain. I am reminded again of the novel Feed by M.T. Andersen because the students in his novel literally had a feed hooked up in their brains 24/7. I am worried that students will become too dependent somewhere inside of me, but I also recognize that these tools can take students to a level we could never even have imagined 10 years ago. I think my worry comes from fear of change, but I understand and support the need for it. I know that other "immigrants" are thinking along the same lines, but unlike me, they are paralyzed by their fear. Sad.