But enough about my toys.
I’m finding that a smooth transition between technology changes is a very good thing for me. I’ve spent much of the last 20 years trying to keep up with trends and changes, and I must say my taste for it is beginning to wane a bit. That, of course, makes me a little bit more like the overwhelming majority of the teachers I support, which might be a good thing. After all, the technology early adopters tend to look askance at those who can’t (or are unwilling to) keep up, which does bad things on both sides – it tends to foster a distorted sense of power and gatekeeping amongst the early adopters, and a sense of powerlessness and neglect amongst everybody else. There’s a lot of research on this issue. It’s definitely not new, it’s just gotten worse as the pace of change increases.
They say, of course, that comfort with unfamiliarity is a good thing. I watched a TED Talk by social studies teacher Diana Laufenberg titled “How to learn? From mistakes,” a wonderful collection of instructional vignettes which brings together a lot of the project-based learning ideas my colleagues and I have been promoting for a long time: digital storytelling, collaborative projects, multiple modes of expression, student-driven learning and decision-making. Her point is that, with the shift away from educators and schools as the sole sources of information (any smart phone can provide more information than any teacher), we have to work out a better role for ourselves. And, of course, the above list provides the hints. Underlying it all is this idea that learning actually happens through failure, not success. That is, we grow by engaging in a series of unfamiliar experiences, learning from our mistakes.
One might say that this is a very good argument for being a technology early adopter, and we should push those who aren’t in that category, to join it.
But I suspect most people’s ability to negotiate unfamiliarity can be stretched only so far. Hence, learning-through-technology advocates might run the risk of squandering that ability to stretch in the pursuit of tools, rather than ideas. Once again, we’ve run the risk of putting the cart before the horse, technology goals ahead of educational goals, giving fuel to the argument that too much attention to technology tools slows, rather than enhances, learning. This is, of course, why so-called intelligent classroom tools have made such inroads into classroom practice – these tools do not require teachers to change their practice one whit, so they must meet and overcome only one arena of unfamiliarity. But that pretty much misses the implication of access to information, Ms. Laufenberg’s primary point, and mine.
So how do we beat this rap? Taking a page from intelligent classroom tool integration, the goal is to reduce the amount of unfamiliarity, and we can do that by simply ignoring the tools. Do we need the latest tablet, cloud computing tool, media editor, etc., to implement student-driven, project-based learning? Certainly not. That’s a change that has its own merits, and we can advocate it without running the risk of giving ordinary classroom teachers the Catch 22 of requiring them to embrace new classroom habits only when and if they will use and embrace the tools we have designed to support it.
But doesn’t that defeat the point? Not necessarily. In most settings, access to tools and technology resources is, for the most part, set by district and school policies rather than integration strategies. Most students already have the exposure and skillset they need to leverage the tools, as long as they have access. Hence, it isn’t necessary for the classroom teacher to have mastered the tools. They only need to allow for their use. That might, of course, be pretty scary too, but it’s a great deal less scary than requiring them to be in charge of teaching to, and providing, the tools themselves.
Of course, the appropriate use of tools is something that a teacher can’t completely ignore. But the overwhelming majority of these concerns are (or at least should be!) already on their plates. Distracted and off-task behavior, critical thinking and evaluating the credibility of resources, etc. – are all things that scare teachers from allowing tech tool use, but those issues aren’t new, or even radically different, from those needed in an ordinary library.
It’s time to cut our teachers a little slack. Instead of requiring them to embrace tool use as a metaphor for instructional reform, we should allow them the luxury of addressing the reform directly. I, for one, am willing to do that, knowing full well that, within a few short years, I’ll probably be one of those for whom some slack is required.
