One of the more provocative voices in educational technology belongs to Gary Stager of the Thornburg Center. In a recent presentation at an Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation workshop, he expressed dismay with many educators’ seemingly intractable resistance to recognizing the instructional power of thoughtfully applied technology.Gary mentioned that not long ago, a local Dominick’s grocery store had donated 5% of its one-day profits to local schools for student laptops. “When even Dominick’s gets it, “ he said, “it’s game, set, match!”His words stuck with me. Since then I’ve noticed a few more extreme signs that technology is so entrenched in mainstream culture that educators no longer have a leg to stand on when they ignore its importance in students’ lives.
Country artist Brad Paisley had a hit song and video this summer with “Online,”a catchy, up-tempo satire about people who try to be “so much cooler online” by reinventing themselves on MySpace. Nashville commenting on MySpace…who’d have imagined?
It gets better. Even bluegrass musicians are singing about technology. Grammy winning artist Tim O’Brien laments a software crash while trying to download a jpeg in the very funny “Running Out of Memory for You:”
“Well I got an email from you darlin’
It said you’d sent me a file
It was a full-length picture, jpeg format
But I never got to see you smile
I thought of what you might be wearin’
Just then my server software froze
I tried rebooting, tried compression
But it would not open past your nose”
The ultimate sign, however, was yet to come. In mid-August, I rode in one of my favorite organized bicycle tours in Indiana, the Amishland and Lakes Tour. The longer routes take cyclists way off the beaten path of touristy Shipshewana and Nappanee into Emma, Topeka, and other small, yet thriving Amish communities. Riders pass friendly Amish families offering sweet treats and homemade mint tea in the shade of old oaks on the front lawns of tidy working farms. One also sees woodworking, harness, buggy, and bicycle shops, schools, and other sights common to Amish life. It’s a wonderful way to spend a day (and it is definitely fun to pass horse drawn buggies on your bike).
But one also sees something unexpected: Amish people using technology. I saw weed whackers, steam powered log splitters, boats with outboard motors, cell phones kept in communal phone booths. I found I had to make a special effort to watch the road in front of me during such curious distractions.
As I drove home after the ride, Gary’s words came back to me, and it hit me how right he was. If even the Amish have figured out how to integrate useful technology in their culture, is there anything more that needs to be said about schools?
I look forward to the new school year and the spirited discussions about technology it will surely bring. But one conversation I’m no longer interested in having is whether or not a school can say it is doing a good job of educating students without addressing what technology means to students and how we can use it wisely and thoughtfully in learning. It really is “game, set, match.” The signs are everywhere if you’re paying any attention at all.
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Brad Paisley. Online. BMG, 2007.
Tim O’Brien. Runnin’ Out of Memory for You. Sugar Hill Records, 2005.
Posted on September 15th, 2007 by Curt Lieneck
Filed under: Uncategorized
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