SM@RT Education Technology Services Inc. Education 1 to 1
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.