Lat week, I was at a meeting along with several principals, and we were talking about technology in schools... vision, connections, networks, curriculum, the whole range of issues realted to computers in schools today.
As we were about to adjourn, one principal indicated that her school was about the same place they were eight years ago. Their network was a little more reliable, but not much. (Now it fails every other day, a few years ago, it failed everyday.) There are a few teachers who use technology some, but it is still "special" when students use computers for their school work.
As I reflected on this over the weekend, I have come ot the conclusion that collectively, our industry is in need of new frameworks for making our schools truly technology-rich:
1) We need to define baseline technology and install that in a robust manner so that failures of our systems are rare. These systems need to be basic- Internet access, access to cloud computing, and printing.
2) We need to accept students' willingness to bring their own technology in and use it for school, so our classroom places need to e supplemented with virtual spaces that are available over Mac, PC, Linux, and mobile operating systems.
3) We need to accept that our learners are different and for us to be relevant, we need to update our practices... no more excuses, no more "proceeding slowly."
4) We need leadership (individuals and groups) who accept a new vision for curriculum and instruction in their schools and actually follow through on implementing that vision.
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