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I wanted to tell Chris Judson that he is now my newest hero after reading his post “Why Bashing Ed?” but blogger wouldn’t let me comment because I don’t use blogger or open id. So I popped over to twitter to tell him there and possibly re-tweet so others could read it too.
But twitter was stressed out.
My blog was the only thing that seemed to be working. Then I had a brilliant beyond brilliant idea: I’ll share a link on my blog! ~but… isn’t that what twitter is for?~
Which brings me back to Chris’ post. He says:
As it applies to education–and especially technology–we really need to return to the main focus of any tool: how to use that tool for learning. In short, let’s uncover the rhetoric, the slick slideware presentations, the spiffy 4-color mailers that promise and promise, and return to the days of the command line. Enter a command, and things happen. Once we’re comfortable with entering in a command, we can string a couple of commands together and then perhaps do some scripting within education.
Good to hear a techie talk some sense. ~and good to learn cool techie sounding ways of explaining things so i can try to be one of them!~
I agree and then some. I would go so far as to say that technology is mainly a distraction. It is discussed way too much in the edublogosphere. ~asylum? i’m determined to find a new word~ There are much more pressing issues at stake here. I’ll give myself 60 seconds to list a few…. Go!
- To keep it inside the edTech discussion: access disparities between schools in the same district, much less around the world, are tremendous.
- The people spending the money on technology do not listen to teachers. In fact, nobody listens to teachers.
But more important:
- Standardized testing is killing learning as we know it, and a dark ages is just around the corner. ~i’m talking code blue~
- With all the talk of 21st century skills, we never taught the 20th century ones. Still pushing for media literacy in the most mediated culture on earth, and now it’s “information literacy.” Which is necessary, but different. ~i doubt we’ll stop and examine the 20th century at all before it’s too late. it’s okay, hardly anything important happened~
- The economy is changing fast and the kids we look at today in public schools are going to struggle because of what we aren’t teaching them, even if we could make a 180 right now.
- We can never make a 180 until everyone puts their cards on the table. The root problem here is that we pretend there’s consensus about the PURPOSE of what we’re doing here, but there is nothing of the sort. “Student achievement” is a vague term that doesn’t denote “learning” as we usually understand it. ~a page from orwell’s book~
- There are serious political and social problems that MUST be addressed for any program of action to work, from parents to the president.
- There are institutional bureaucracies ~with armies~ that like the status quo. It’s fanta$tic to THEM when people can’t think.
~ok, that was a lot more than 60 seconds~
The point is this: I, like Chris, call for a return to the command line but on the WHOLE BLESSED THING. We should all spend the summer in the woods and learn how to live deliberately. ~ok i’m joking. you know i need my hair dryer~ Then start talking about how to teach deliberately… agree on the purpose of education so we can get down to the business of becoming better teachers.
Technology will no doubt be a part of that discussion, but I’m guessing if we fixed all that other stuff technology would mostly take care of itself.
Technology is worse than pointless if it keeps us from going where we need to go.
More on this: School is the Means to an End & In Answer to Your Question
9 responses so far ↓
1 Chris // May 26, 2008 at 6:55 pm
And I think you have a great ending line:
“Technology is worse than pointless if it keeps us from going where we need to go.”
So…are you really sure you _have_ to get out of the classroom? It’s difficult to help spur change from the outside looking in, you know?
Just a thought.
Peace,
Chris
2 scott // May 26, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I think you’re right–fix the other stuff and technology isn’t an issue. The problem I see is that people don’t know how to LEARN.
Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day.
Teach him out to fish and he’ll eat forever.
Open up his mind to the fact that there are millions of other things out there besides fish that are edible and he will devise ways to grow them, trap them, and season them.
He’ll also enjoy his meals a lot more. Who wants to eat fish every day?
3 Kaelie // May 26, 2008 at 7:25 pm
I think that saying standardized testing is killing education as we know it is an understatement. It’s slaughtering it.
Kaelie’s last blog post..Darwin
4 Shinhee // May 28, 2008 at 9:03 am
Familiar of, Clay Burell? Yes. while reading this and other posts on your blog, it reminded me of him. He was my former english teacher and is currently one of my favorite teachers.
He introduced you to one of his classes and I’ve been reading your blog but never dared to comment you.
Though I am going to talk a little bit about you- some basics on my blog, and I’m going to begin quoting you and writing some of your posts!
5 ken // May 28, 2008 at 9:56 am
Talk about tech confusing the issue! Look at the staggering number of blogs out in the world!!!
Good lord!
And most of those ‘authors’ are by-products of a 20th century education, which, if I’m reading you correctly, didn’t quite have ‘it’ figured out to begin with (I mean, honestly, I’ve just ended this sentence with a preposition…wait…what’s a preposition…maybe there’s a blog about prepositions…I’ll start a blog about prepositions).
I don’t give a ferret’s hymen about content, testing, and all that other goobidey-gook, I just want to teach decency and compassion (all while writing ‘ferret’s hymen’…okay, I’m not ‘living the example’ 24-7).
Story, the true kind:
I’m at Dunkin Donuts this past Saturday. The post soccer sojourn w/ my three year old son. He eats a banana. Yes! I frequent a Dunkin Donuts that sells bananas. My son says that he needs to pee-pee. We go to the bathroom. I lock the door. He’s on the potty and then the door opens. Apparently the lock doesn’t work. The guy says, ‘Oh’ and then walks out.
He never said ’sorry’, ‘excuse me’. Nothing.
When I leave the bathroom, there are six people standing around the counter. I say, ‘um…the door doesn’t lock.’ I say this b/c I think that one of the six is the man who entered the room and only said, ‘oh’.
No one says anything.
So, of course, I continue:
‘Anyone just open the door on us? Anyone want to say sorry? Anyone want to model the type of behavior that I’m desperately trying to instill in my son?’
No one says anything.
Let’s just watch each other piss and crap and see where that gets us.
No one needs a computer for that.
Grrr.
ken’s last blog post..one, two, three, all ears on me
6 Taylor // May 28, 2008 at 7:01 pm
@chris I’m convinced change is impossible from the inside. Rock. Solid. Convinced. I feel that, as long as I’m cooperating, I’m doing more harm than good. In fact, the sooner this thing collapses the better off humanity will be. Then we really could return to the command line.
@scott The learning thing, as you know, I see every day. But it comes down to a THINKING thing. Which isn’t different except that when people think of “learning” they view it as a discrete activity to be done in directed ways at specified times. Thinking should be all the time, and learning is impossible without it. The current system encourages a belief that someone can “make” students learn, relieving the students of the responsibility to think. And what a relief it is!
@Kaelie Amen.
@Shinhee I’m so glad you commented! If I had Clay as a teacher, he’d be one of my favorites, too. ~either that, or we’d butt heads all the time~ The link to your blog doesn’t seem to be working. Please leave it again, so we can visit it!
@Ken Funny story. But the guy was probably embarrassed, don’t you think?
@
7 ken // May 28, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Maybe the telling of the story was funny, but, in truth, the event highlights my extreme disappointment in our civility w/ one another.
Yeah, I’m sure he was embarrassed, but I’m not sure it excuses him from apologizing.
Obviously, this is way off the mark w/ your post and its intent.
So…on to other stuff!
ken’s last blog post..one, two, three, all ears on me
8 Taylor // May 30, 2008 at 11:45 am
Good point. His embarrassment doesn’t excuse being rude. I’m sure you and your son were embarrassed too.
9 ken // May 30, 2008 at 8:16 pm
And good thing he was my son…otherwise…that guy would have called Dateline
ken’s last blog post..tidying up a bit
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