Old folks and technology
Saturday, December 12, 2009 at 07:57AM We’re so far behind our students. How do we catch up and move past them so that we can then teach them things they don’t know?
When I read this quote from a teacher in Dangerously Irrelevant, I was just plain saddened. How has it come to pass that teachers no longer recognize that there are values, skills and understandings that they already bring to the classroom that are far more important than technology skills?
I think this old column still holds up pretty good...
______________________________________________
Old folks and technology
Head for the Edge – Nov/Dec 2002
John Lubbock, a 19th century astronomer, once wrote:
There are three great questions which in life we have to ask over and over again to answer:
Is it right or wrong?
Is it true or false?
Is it beautiful or ugly?
Our education ought to help us to answer these questions.
I think of those words often when I hear educators worry about kids being more adept and comfortable with technology than those of us who were growing up when the earth was still cooling.
It’s hard not be humbled when a situation like this occurs as related by Monica Campana of Palm Coast, Florida, on LM_Net:
Last month Google was blocked by our district because kids were doing image searches and actual pictures loaded on Google image search hit page that aren’t blocked by our filter. Safe search in Google can be turned off by the kids. I vented, fumed, researched, emailed Google, but finally gave up and taught the kids how to use a few other search engines. One week later one of my seventh graders pulled me aside and whispered that we could still use www.google.ca - the Canadian version of Google, as of yet still not blocked. I had to laugh because I should have asked the kids in the first place.
Many of us turn to those younger than us for technology help. (Older I get the more it seems like the more young people there are around all the time!) When I need help editing a digital movie, I turn to my 16-year-old son. He downloads movies, burns CDs, and uses IM to visit with folks around the world. If I need help getting the networked printer to work in the office, our 20-something network coordinator is the one I ask. When her fingers fly through the control panels they are a blur. Hands down, kids can do the technical stuff and are more comfortable with much of this stuff than I will ever be. And my VCR DOESN’T blink 12:00 either.
In Growing Up Digital (McGraw Hill, 1999) by Don Tapscott calls the kids who have grown up with a mouse in their hands the Net Generation. Of these Net-Geners, he writes, “For the first time in history youth are an authority on an innovation central to society’s development.” I am not exactly filled with hope for the future when I think that the young, spiky blue-haired guy with more studs than a Minnesota snow tire is leading cultural change. (Darn, that sounded just like something my grandfather might have said!)
What I hope we don’t forget is that the same great issues of education that Lubbock identifies are still with us today and are perhaps more important than ever. When our students download music, we need to be there to ask if there is a copyright question involved (right or wrong). When they find sources of information on the Internet, we need to be there to ask them if the information is credible (true or false). When they put graphics into their presentations, we need to be there to ask them if those visuals contribute to the message they are trying to get across (beautiful or ugly). I like to think the questions we can help answer are more important in the long run than “How do you create a new background on a slide?”
We need to help make sure our students not only know how to use these new electronic marvels, but use them well. A short list of tools is below with some of the sensibilities about their use with which we geezers can still help:
Some technologies: Some things with which old people can still help
Spreadsheets: Math sense, numeracy, efficiency in design
Charting and graphing software: Selecting the right graph for the right purpose
Database design: End user consideration, making valid data-driven decisions
Word processing: The writing process, organization, editing, grammar, style
Presentation software: Speaking skills, graphic design, organization, clarity
Web-page design: Design, writing skills, ethical information distribution
Online research: Citation of sources, designing good questions, checking validity of data, understanding biases
Video-editing: Storyboarding, copyright issues when using film clips and audio
Chat room use/Instant messaging Safety, courtesy, time management
No matter how sophisticated the N-Geners are technologically, in matters of ethics, aesthetics, veracity, and other important judgments, they are, after all, still green. By virtue of our training and life experiences, we can apply the standards of older technologies (the pencil, the podium, the book) to those which are now technology enhanced. And we’d better. Given the choice of having Socrates or Bill Gates as a teacher, I know which one I would choose.
Increasingly the teachers and librarians who can survive and thrive in schools ever more permeated by technology will need to view themselves as “co-learners” in many learning experiences. Remember that “life-long learning” applies to us as well as the kids.
______________________________________________
So after re-reading this, I am asking myself "What in the hell are we doing in our staff development efforts in technology that is so belittling to teachers?" Have we truly lost sight of the fact that the end result should not be using technology well, but using technology to teach well?
Good grief!
And just remember...
Reader Comments (12)
I'm a little more saddened in my interpretation of the post. I felt the post was meant to continue to push a "teachers are the problem" mentality.
That a workshop presenter would openly criticize a comment made by a participant of his workshops isn't really a positive thing in my eyes.
I read this blog post today http://jazzper.se/2009/12/teacher-2-0-upgrade-dont-overestimate-your-students/ and I think it reminds me that students are NOT great at the internet. They barely scratch the surface of searching, can get images but rarely authentic research and struggle to sift and synthesize information. We have a flood of information at our fingertips and are not training them to control the flow and direct the water. Yes, many of them intuitively take to hardware, but that is not where the greatest changes are occurring.
The comment makes me wonder if many teachers are getting inservice on technology. In my district it seems that the "formal" training is limited to those that sign up for it, IF there is enough room for them all. I would like to do a little more introduction of technology at faculty meetings or other required attendance type venues, but there is no time for it. I can invite teachers to look at a new database or whatever, but I get only one or two takers, if I am lucky. I grab teachers on the fly when I can, that's how I got a few to try NoodleTools, but it is hard to get their attention.
I think my biggest weakness as a school librarian is that I never taught in the classroom (other than practicums and my 3rd grade student teacher stint with my NON-cooperating teacher!) I have no idea if what I see and hear is real, but my teachers seem to be drowning in work and initiatives. They are trying despirately to stay at least one hour ahead of what they are teaching daily. When I try to talk to them about the research unit coming up, they toss off a comment as they are walking away from me. Maybe it is because they are not totally used to me yet, I have only been there 2 years and a few months, but I have a hard time figuring out when and where these wonderful teachers are going to get tech training. :(
I agree that it seems like the N-geners are racing way ahead of us...but in actuality..I think the N-geners are just less concerned about making "mistakes" when they're trying out different sites and tools on the web. And sometimes we, as adults, have a bit of a pride issue, in that, it's kind of "humbling" to ask someone way younger than us for help...we figure that we should already know everything...especially as teachers! But we, as teachers, have to continue to remember to be students too...and learn something new every day!
Doug,
it seems to me that one of the values we should be instilling in our students, by example, is the value of learning. We should be willing and eager to share what we do not know; and the how, the why, and the how wonderful it is to learn something new.
-- dave --
When I have been successful at getting teachers to let go of the idea that they have to know everything first, they have had some wonderful experiences learning from their students. I tell them to allow the students to explore and then share with the whole class when they figure something out. The students gain confidence and the teacher is almost always surprised and delighted by what the students produce. One thing I have seen over and over are teachers surprised by some of their lower achievers. Given the time and space and encouragement technology can be the great equalizer. One teacher I work with sends me emails that start with,"Guess what they showed me today!"
They always make my day.
I may be grey in the whiskers, but I can still teach the wings off a fly at forty paces. It has taken some adjustment, but really very little to be able to teach in a web-savvy world. If I didn't know what I do, I wouldn't be able to help students understand the concepts of bias as they search, and the evaluation of information as reliable and also then spurious. I don't think we shall ever reach a stage in development as humans where we don't rely on what the generations before us have to teach us about today that we didn't think about yet in our race for tomorrow.
"Have we truly lost sight of the fact that the end result should not be using technology well, but using technology to teach well?"
Or better yet, replace "teach" with "learn" to give it more of a focus on student use of the tools for learning as opposed to the teacher teaching. Too many stop at adding technology to their direct instruction when the greatest value comes from adding it to their students communicating, collaborating, processing, etc.
I agree with Mr. Warlick. You mentioned Socrates and it's the asking of questions and making connections that is real teaching and learning. I'm always telling my students what I don't know. My 2nd graders were reading about a dairy farm today and had a million questions about cows. I had some answers but not enough for them. I told them I didn't know and now we have plenty to look up this week. Why should it be any different with tech? We can't know everything but we can still incorporate what they know and connect it to the learning. It's a process. Take away the ego and learn something with your students.
Hi Joel,
Not sure if it was meant as criticism or irony, but I was saddened by the tone.
Thanks for the comment,
Doug
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the link. I think a lot of kids can drive, but aren't particularly good at finding a location or fixing a car. Pretty shallow understandings at times.
All the best,
Doug
Hi Tori,
My observations are similar to yours. Too little staff development all around and lots of priorities other than technology - which is not necessarily bad.
Doug
Hi Joseph,
The Net-Genners are certainly bigger risk takers with technology!
Doug
Hi Dave,
It's all about admitting one doesn't know it all - which seems difficult for quite a few folks. Personally, I find it liberating.
Thanks for the Christmas card and have a great holiday season. See ya down the road!
Doug
Hi Dottie,
I love these kinds of e-mails! You made MY day!
Thanks,
Doug
Hi Curt,
I hope you are right - I know just enough about technology to be dangerous - no programming. etc. But I seem to manage the department OK!
Great insights. Thank you,
Doug
Hi Todd,
I believe it! If I remember, we had great teachers before we had computers, the Internet, Twitter etc. Sort of vaguely remember anyway!
From another gray-beard!
Doug
Hi BalancEdTech,
Your name sums it up nicely.
Doug
Hi Ninja,
Admitting one's ignorance is pretty liberating and sort of fun. But yes, it's a lot about letting go of ego, as you put it.
Doug
Doug, thanks for extending the conversation over here. Good stuff above!
Since from your comment you appear to maybe share some of Joel's concern about my original post, I thought I'd include here the conversation that he and I had over at my blog:
SCOTT:
Hi Joel,
1. I didn't think what I said was critical of the teacher at all. In fact, I didn't really say anything at all. My intent when posting was simply to throw up something to which others could reflect and respond. Can you clarify what you think was negative? Other than restating her comment, all I said was that the statement was true and sincerely made. I guess I don't see the negativity in that. I know you've been unhappy (and probably deservedly!) with what I've said in the past but...
2. I think comments made by participants in workshops are fair game, just as are comments made on the Web. As long as I'm not personally demeaning anyone, I think I should put things out there for discussion. We can't address issues if we can't talk about them...
JOEL:
I probably agree more than disagree with what you have said in the past. (Such is the life of a political arena like education - hard to find people who agree 100% with each other on 100% of the topics). I generally like your work, and find your approach to looking at leadership admirable.
Having said all of that, you certainly have every right to say whatever you want about participants of your workshops. It is a free country in this manner and should be.
You purposefully chose the comment, title, and words like "said with all sincerity" (which, to me, says you find the teacher's comment to be almost too hard to believe). You state that you were simply restating it - I perceive you found it to be further proof that teachers are out of touch and used it to make that point.
Since no context is provided around it (such as your thinking), it is left up to the reader to determine what you might have meant - and this is my interpretation. Given the your previous posts, I don't think I am far off. If I am - well, I would be happy to be wrong.
SCOTT:
Let me explain my original thinking and see if it helps you feel any better about this:
1. Word choice of "said with all sincerity": I included b/c at the time I wanted readers to understand that this was a genuine, sincere comment, not some flippant, off-hand, disingenuous comment. The teacher was very concerned about this. This was an important issue for the teacher.
2. Word choice of "Not going to happen?" in title: This was my response to her - that it was unlikely that this would ever occur - but I phrased it as a question in my blog post title b/c that opened up the door for others to disagree with me.
So... that's it. Nothing negative in my original thinking. No desire to disparage anyone. Just a post to start some conversation. As to whether you're far off or not in your interpretation, I guess it comes down to whether you believe me or not that there was no negative connotation intended.
Thanks for keeping me honest. =)
Hi Scott,
I'm not sure I shared Joel's concern other than to say I felt the selection of the quote without commentary left it open to interpretation - and I expressed mine. As an old English teacher, I appreciate the power of ambiguity to provoke commentary and discussion - and it certainly worked here!
All the best,
Doug