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rethinking education

On Instructional Technology

Tomorrow, I’m going to sit down with Adam Bellow of eduTecher to record the very first episode of eduTecherTV—at least that’s what I think we’re calling it. Eventually, we hope that eduTecherTV will mature into an informative video podcast full of useful tools and tricks for using technology in the modern classroom. For the first episode, however, we’re going to keep it simple and talk about what our theories on what instuctional or educational technology is (and, potentially, isn’t).

Before I hop on the train to Long Island, I thought it would be wise to flesh out my ideas instead of making something up on the spot as the camera was rolling—my traditional modus operandi.

Teachers—myself included—have a tendency to use new tools to do the same old tasks. In many classrooms, the digital projector has replaced the overhead projector, which replaced the chart paper (granted, I still use chart paper liberally). Microsoft Word has replaced pen and paper. The SMARTBoard has replaced the chalkboard. You get the idea.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. But using technology to reinvent traditional teaching methods is only the tip of the iceberg—the low-handing fruit, if you will. Many teacher stop there.

I believe that it’s the mission of those who are interested in instructional technology to dig deeper. Yes, many of the new tools can serve as replacements for the older tools, but that’s not the point. Many of the newest technologies finding their way into the classroom allow the teacher to create completely new educational experiences that simply were not possible before.

The new tools allow you to push the envelope in terms of collaboration. They allow students to work together on the same document, as well as provide real feedback.

The new tools allow students to dabble in mediums that were previously out of reach for the average classroom, including audio and video. They allow the students in your classrooms to publish in the exact same medium (blogs, online video, podcasts) as the professionals instead of watered-down approximations.

If you’re going to use the new tools, the changing world requires you to dare to use them in new and novel ways. Otherwise, you’re just using new tools to prepare your students for the old world.

Outdated Maxims

As teachers, we carry a lot of baggage. Not just the baggage acquired from our professional careers, but also the 12 or more years we spent as students. How many of the maxims in our teaching philosophy don’t contribute to our overall goals as educators? Even as a relatively young teacher, I may not have built of too many of my own, but I certainly have a lot of work to do when it comes to evaluating all of the maxims I’ve learned through the course of my educational career as a student.

Jonathan Fields brings it up in a business context:

How many rules do we follow that have outlasted their original intent?

They’re all around us. How many people work 9 to 5 (7 to 7 in NYC), when they know their most productive, creative hours are 4 to midnight? How many people pour the coffee first, then add milk and sugar second, when pouring the coffee last avoids the need to stir? How many scrub the dishes before putting them in a dishwasher that’s been good enough to clean them for decades? How many top off the gas tank to avoid waiting for change, even when paying by credit card?

In more of an educational context, some of the maxims that persisted during my education that I’ve had to rethink:

  • Is a quiet and orderly classroom necessarily a productive classroom?
  • Why must math be done in pencil at all times?
  • Why should students produce a written draft before typing?

There are many more, but I think it is far more important that it be a personal quest to seek out these maxims and challenge them. If any come to mind, do not hesitate to share them in the comments section.