Integrate technology into your worst units (From Machines Are the Easy Part)

From Machines Are the Easy Part; People Are the Hard Part. 
Illustrations by Brady Johnson

54. Children will be in genuine danger if certain skills are not taught.

Instructions on using dangerous technologies are accompanied by training on how to use such them safely. Such technologies include: 

• Scuba diving 
• Shooting a gun 
• Driving a car 

I am guessing that skydiving could be added to the list, but I am not about to find out. 

At what point does the use of information technologies fall into the dangerous category? Do kids: 

• Find pro-anorexia sites on the web? 
• Meet pedophiles in chat rooms? 
• Locate inaccurate information about STDs? 

The ability to evaluate information and navigate the Internet safely must be taught to all students. To do less is no more responsible than handing them a loaded gun. 

55. Integrate technology into your worst units. 

Every teacher I know has units that are weak. When I taught 7th grade English, I dreaded the poetry unit. Kids didn’t like it and I didn’t like it. It stunk. 

A big mistake many teachers make is plunking some technology-related project smack into their best units, the strong ones that have great activities, are supported by wonderful resources, and are loved by the students.  

This may come as a surprise, but technology-enhanced projects do not always go well the first time. And by placing them in a strong part of your curriculum, you run a high risk of screwing up a good thing. 

Plunk these projects in your worst area of the curriculum.  

Things can only get better. 

56. The franchise dilemma. 

Why do classroom projects work well for the originator and not when others try it. It’s because of what I call the "franchise dilemma." In the restaurant business, there are many great local restaurants, but when an attempt is made to franchise them, a very small percentage are successful. Why? Because it’s impossible to export the passion and artistry of the person who made the first restaurant successful. 

Teachers have stunningly successful projects because of their passion for the topic or method they used. One fellow each year has his kids research the history of a local building and turn the research into articles for the local paper. When others have tried this they don't seem to make it "go." 

The best we can do is offer examples of projects which have worked for others and then glean the kernel of pedagogy that made them so successful - relevance, leveraging the popularity of technology, group work, affective skill attainment, etc. 

We can’t "teacher-proof" teaching. Without genuine personal investment in what and how we teach, the job just becomes a mindless set of actions.  

57. Teach what you use. 

In 1982, the board of the district in which I was librarian and English teacher decided to buy an Apple II computer instead of library books. I was not happy. And instead of processing books with my three days of extended contract time, I taught myself the AppleWriter word processing program. At the end of those three days, I thought “Wow!” 

I was suddenly no longer captive of some of my own writing limitations: bad handwriting, crummy spelling, and poor keyboarding skills that made revision painful and time-consuming. My stuff looked professional. I was liberated. 

Ten seconds later I realized that everyday I taught about 75 kids who might also experience such liberation. Technology use in schools suddenly made sense. 

Teach with the technology that personally empowers you.