Technology Fear Factor in Education- Truer words were never spoken!

During my frantic, choke-it-down “lunch” today at school (I had just re-arranged my room for the 3rd time) I came across this video on teacher tube. I have been talking with my colleagues for weeks now about the dichotomy in educational philosophy regarding the use of technology.

It seems that the hot new trend is to integrate technology in the classroom (yay!), however the school districts block nearly all of the tools that we are shown. Instead, we are to use the “approved” tools that they have bought (at considerable expense) even though they may be harder to use and more limited. To be fair, I understand the HUGE legal issue we are facing. As an extension of our teaching responsibilities for keeping our students safe, we are now expected to do that for cyberspace as well. Things could potentially go horribly wrong if we are not careful.

To that end, I submit that we focus on creating a culture where we teach how to use technology appropriately. Let’s face it- a sharpened pencil is a potential weapon to a young student unless they are taught that its expected acceptable use is to write with. Isn’t it the same with blogs, podcasts, wikis and the like? Rather than spending millions of dollars on professional development and software subscriptions- why not let our passions and interests drive the change and allow our professional responsibility to naturally extend to the new frontier?