The Speeding Bullet Train of Ed Tech
Working as an Educational Technology Coordinator this last year and a half has been a very different experience than I had envisioned. At the dawn of my career in 2002, tech integration was about getting unfamiliar tools in the hands of educators, and getting them to use them effectively. The goal was to show the baby boomer teachers, who were still using overhead projectors for notes, that this stuff was not scary, and that the tools were useful and engaging. Another goal was to get the kids using tech more, as they were still mostly analog, pen and paper note taking students. I tried to stay on the cutting edge as much as I could, and enjoyed piloting new programs throughout my career. Personally, I wanted the newest tech toys as soon as I could get my hands on them to use in my classroom, and to share them with other educators. To the students, who had not yet been completely raised on their own personal devices, it was engaging, if only because it was something new.
Fast forward ten years, and now I cannot stop thinking that the promise of a digital future in education was a hoax. It seems as though Ed Tech Coordination means figuring out which software to buy, to complement the products we buy, to encourage kids to stay on the devices they buy even longer, even though they are on devices ALL day. It is encouraging teachers to use new tools, when they are getting burned out on the sheer number of different tools available.
I’m not advocating a return to overhead projectors, but the speed at which it all changed made it impossible for us to make informed decisions. We are just now realizing that we conducted an uncontrolled experiment on an entire generation of children. We are just now noticing the spike in ADHD and depression, that can likely be tied to the impact of screen time on developing brains. There are some schools that showcase the fact that they have the latest and greatest technology, all while the tech execs in Silicon Valley are sending their kids to schools without any screens whatsoever, where the position of Ed Tech coordinator does not exist. The train has gone by so fast, that we are all standing in the station bewildered, just wanting to what is best for us and our kids. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on where we go from here.
Since taking on the role of an Ed Tech coordinator, I have been trying to focus on targeted, effective use of tech to make us more efficient, engaging and creative. These three things are possible, but the constant distraction any mobile device provides is difficult to overcome. Educational technology coordination is thriving, and dying at the same time. There are days that I want to go full steam ahead with tech, and days I want to ban every screen from the classroom.
I’m on Team Human
In my design classes this month, students are building a giant version of a board game, and they have been using graph paper to make blueprints, butcher paper to brainstorm ideas, and having offline (with their voices ) discussions. They are thriving in the analog world, if only because it is something new. My teaching has been so focused on the digital tools for collaboration and differentiation, that I haven’t focused on the shared humanity that any good classroom should foster. Watching them work together, with empathy, and innovation, has brought me back to my analog days, when teaching was about human interaction and discussion. It was about coming together to understand tough concepts, rather than completing tasks at our individual work stations.
It is no coincidence that I have also been reading books about this very topic, and listening to podcasts of like minded individuals.
Three books I am currently reading are:
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zubhoff
The Story of Stuff by Annie Leonard
Team Human by Douglas Rushkoff. He also has a podcast that can be found on his website: Teamhuman.fm.
“Team Human” has been the most intriguing to me, because I agree with the central premise that humans are special, and our shared humanity cannot be relegated to algorithms and like buttons. I’ve spent my career in humanities, and I agree that humanity thrives when we work together, like I have seen in my classes recently.
I am hopeful that there is a way to have the best of both the analog and digital worlds, if we do not buy too much into one or the other. I have had the benefit of being able to explore these possibilities in my current position, as we have the tech, and I have had the academic freedom to explore these issues. We have amazing tools at our disposal, but our humanity is not disposable.
If you have any thoughts on the topic, or any suggested reading, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to comment here, or even better, give me a call for some good old human interaction 🙂