Think.Technology
POTENTIAL. PLAN. PROOF.
Technology lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn't think they could learn before.
"I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication, they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user."
BILL GATES
So much of the concern it seems now a days with
administrators in schools, with regards to technology,
is how best to use it. Bang for the buck. The
buzzword, "integration," is always the focus, and steps
are often taken to increase integration, maximize the
benefit of the money spent on software, hardware,
and networks. This forward-looking approach
however always seems a step-behind, as technology
continues to evolve; software applications need more
bandwidth, more memory, and the projects we create
require more storage space. Computer technology today is evolving at a fairly rapid rate. The increases in
computer speed, not unlike the development of a new class of applications and increasingly-more
sophisticated software, seem to be growing along a logarithmic scale.
Over the past decade, I hate to admit it, but teachers have been practicing, struggling, and experimenting with technology. Let's try LOGO, let's try video conferencing, let's try drill and practice multimedia CD-ROMs. Across schools, across my state, and probably yours too, the initiatives and frequent-starts of new ways to use technology in education have been varied with inconsistent outcomes and lessons learned.
I envision another process, where not only the technology being used helps students by its nature (smaller writings, more focused on depth and citation) but also helps the teacher. When students post writings into a weblog, then the teacher subscribes to these blogs using a news aggregator application, the transfer of digital information is simplified, automated, taken out of the frustration equation. In this scenario, technology is really integrated: blogging isn't about making webpages, it's about communication, writing, and sharing.