What it is: Today I was truly inspired by a fellow blogger. Mike Summers is relatively new to the educational blogging scene and even relatively new to the education scene, but as I read his posts I was inspired for change. Mike has written 23 posts and after I read his first three I couldn’t help but spend the next hour (and every 5 min. break between classes) to read all 23. As I read the posts on his blog, SM@RT Education Technology Services Inc. Education 1 to 1, I kept saying aloud, “exactly! This is right on with what I have been thinking, this is what keeps me up at night.” After getting through about half of the posts it was time for lunch, I joined my colleagues in the teachers lounge and reiterated what I had been reading. It started an amazing discussion with those who were present. When I finished reading I was ready to take on the world. If there are so many like-minded educators and people who are passionate about education succeeding, why are we stuck in the rut we are in?
How to integrate Education 1 to 1 into the classroom: This is a blog that you should take the time to read and respond to. I am passionate about technology and technology integration in the classroom, but I know that putting the best technology in the world into the classroom is not going to change education. Education needs to change on a foundational level. We need to transform the way we are teaching from the 3 R’s “RAM, Remember, Regurgitate” and teach our students how to think critically, creatively, and collaboratively. We need students who are problem solvers. Technology is always going to feel forced in the traditional classroom because it invites students to create, solve problems, and work together. In the traditional classroom technology acts as a replacement for a chalk board but does essentially the same old thing. It may be more visually appealing but it is not transforming our students. (More of this in my next issue of iLearn ezine…taking longer to complete than expected!) Read Mike’s blog, it will inspire you, it will change the way you approach technology, your students, and your classroom. Next, start a conversation with other educators. There has got to be a way that we can change education and shape it into something that we can be proud of. Something that will benefit our students and make them better human beings. Isn’t that why we entered education in the first place?
Tips: I would love to hear from those of you who read Mike’s blog, what do you think, did it start conversations?
Leave a comment and tell us how you are using Education 1 to 1 in your classroom.
Thank you for the kind words about my blog. I hope, in my own small way, to add something of merit to the conversations that may, over time, lead to meaningful education reform. But I never forget that it’s not me, but people like you, the teachers, who are the real difference makers. You’re in the trenches everyday fighting the good fight for the hearts and minds of our children.
Yesterday on twitter you posed an interesting question. You wrote: “Reading outstanding edu blogs, how is it that so many can see the change that needs to happen and yet we can’t seem to make it happen?”
I initially responded with a “rah-rah” answer about “keep moving forward” and about the power of “faith and conviction.” I still believe those things. Very much so. However, after receiving your “tweet,” I spent the evening reading edublog after edublog. The more I read, the more frustrated I became. You are so correct; the problems are well documented and the proposed solutions are not novel. And yet still we debate; we talk, and opine and propose but very little actually changes. Why? Because those of us in the edublog universe are so smart and everyone else is so dumb? I hardly think so. So what is the problem? If we know the questions, if we can identify the problems, if we know what we’re doing isn’t working, why don’t we change?
I’m troubled. These are disturbing questions that could easily take you to an angry and cynical place.
Or……
It can steel your resolve. It can make you more determined than ever to be the change you seek. But I’ll write more on that later.
In the meantime, I will continue to ponder your outstanding question.
Thanks again for the compliment. I am and remain honored to collaborate, question and learn with you.
I am a primary teacher beginning to incorporate more technology into my classroom. I am trying to research how others are using technology effectively to work with this age group. I understand your comments about how technology feels forced, but I would like to learn more from others on what or how they feel that this approach should take place. I want my students to be problem solvers. How can I do both, any suggestions?
Kelly:
First of all, I love your blog. It is a “regular” of mine and I appreciate the valuable resources you share with us. I am just starting to read through all of Mike’s posts and feel the same as you. I am fortunate enough to work with a group of educators who value technology and integrate it appropriately. This has not happened overnight. We have spent many years building our program, educating ourselves on not only the “how” of educational technology, but more importantly, the “why” of educational technology. I firmly believe that we must meet our students where they are at. If they can text, search, IM, all while listening to their iPods, how can we structure our classrooms so that students feel like they are a part of their own education. As teachers, we would resist (and do resist) taking courses if they weren’t relevant to our teaching. So why would we expect that our students feel any differently.
I don’t necessarily feel frustrated, partly because I work with the people that I do. I do understand the feeling of frustration, however. I think the best way to affect change is to lead by example. I know that each district/school/classroom is equipped differently, but teachers of all levels/subjects must be willing to do what they can with what they have and build on that. Sounds too idealistic? In history, many of the greatest thinkers of our time started with a set of ideals that many thought were slightly crazy.
Thank you for your thoughtful response! I think that before technology will feel natural we have to first look at how our classrooms are set up. If we are constantly up front “giving” our students information that they need and expecting them to memorize it and show they know it in the form of testing or worksheets, we haven’t developed thinkers. My goal in my classroom is to develop students who can think critically, creatively, and problem solve. I believe that technology can be a great resource for making this happen but we have to use it correctly. Imagine a lesson on commas, you could tell your students all the comma rules, show a few examples, and then give them a worksheet to practice on, or it could look more like this:
During group reading time you are reading a story full of comma examples. As students are taking turns reading you stop them and excitedly point out a comma saying “Wait a minute, did you just see that? Has anyone ever seen one of those before? What do you think it is, what do you think it does?” At this point students are interested in discovering what a comma is, they are engaged in trying to figure out what it does. You may guide them more by saying “It isn’t a period, those go at the end of the sentence. What could it be?” This type of approach gets students investigating, asking questions and thinking critically to solve a problem. When you do “discover” together what a comma does, your students will know how to use it in different contexts and apply that knowledge to different situations. This type of classroom lends itself to technology because most of technology asks students to solve a problem, create, or interact.
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the referral to Mike’s blog. I really like his writing. He referred to you on Twitter. I could not find you to Follow. Please email me your user name. I would like to follow you.
Judi