The Wikiness

One of the last and best assignments for this class went thus:

Using a “3-2-1” reflection technique: Identify three (3) things you have learned as a result of taking this course. Identify two (2) things you still have questions about or want to learn. Describe one (1) “nugget of wisdom” you would share with a colleague who has not yet embraced the value of technology for teaching and learning. Do not identify the person. 10 points for the original posting. Replies to classmates is optional but strongly encouraged. Original posts are due Thursday of Week 8.

1. When planning to make a change or reform, it is important to sometimes to “go large,” that is, to implement change system-wide, rather than piecemeal or incrementally.
2. Glogster has an .edu version that is going to make it educationally useful for some of my students. Don’t bother with regular glogster, though. 
3. Millenials are not only the only people in our classrooms, they are an interesting mix of technological ability and conformist tendency. Stay up with them and guide them if you can!

Two things I still have questions about:

1. How bad will things need to be before school districts begin seeing the imperative for more “blended learning”?  And how can I make the paradigm change happen before necessity makes it a messy transition?, and
2. Will society be willing to invest in a new educational paradigm at a time of economic downturns, political corruption, and general uncertainty?  How can the case for paying special attention to schools succeed now, with such a distracted and distressed audience?

One thing I would offer as a “nugget of wisdom” for a colleague who has not yet embraced the value of technology for teaching and learning:

1. Hey, colleague. Don’t be hating or perpetrating on educational technology. You are already an educational technologist, since technology really means “the study or knowledge of tools,” and you certainly have that. Look at how capably you handle that pen as you mark those papers. And notice the deft way you make assignments clear to students through handouts, or a set of instructions written on the board. “Technology” changes, but it only does the same old things educators have been doing for millenia–mainly stimulating learning through communications media.  Oh, yeah. And the future of technology? It’s already here, and students are there already. So stop freaking and start learning or you’ll be a social “tool” without usefulness!