Pushing change over the edge

[Kevin Honeycutt]

It's frustrating, it looks like once you drop your quarter in, it will push the stacks of quarters over the edge and into the palm of your hand. You insert your quarter, aim carefully and drop it and what happens? It get absorbed and the stack of existing coins moves very little. How can that be? It looked so easy and obvious but we in tech integration for any length of time have seen it before. We invest in new tools and even staff development but the stack of change doesn't move.

Over the years I've come to believe that true, lasting is much more "human" than silicon. From the outset I use stories and videos I call conversational lubricants. I use examples of student work in which they are changing the world through their efforts. Podcasts, blogs and wikis, as well as many other web 2.0 tools allow learners to publish authentic work to the world. This creates opportunities for kids to feel a real impact or contribution to a world level discussion or issue. This can be an amazing thing to put in front of a staff and I see it create pockets of possibility by lighting a fire on that day but that fire can be cold embers in short order. It is administrative support, IT support and staff support that can ensure that the fire burns long enough to make an impact on learners over time.

Join the discussion! What are your thoughts?

[Tyler Burnett]

I think this is true, at least it is for me. As a student just doing papers and class room discussion you feel that you have no impact on the world or people in it except for those that are in the room at the time. By doing things through these web 2.0 tools you can reach so many more people and gives you so much more satisfaction and a feel of purpose when you are done.

[Kevin Honeycutt]

That is exactly it! Learners deserve to feel that the things they do matter!

[Sarah Thomas]

I agree with you. So often we're told to go out and make a difference, change the world, but growing up I never saw how my efforts went outside of the community. Now with technology, our abilities for learning are broaden more than I know now. For me, the recently new website I'm using and their uses with interaction anywhere still kind of blows my mind. I've done so much that didn't go past the classroom doorway and now a simple project in the classroom can be seen or ready anywhere in the world. I think that once teachers allow change to occur in their classroom and start mixing up the routines, our abilities in and out of the classroom will be endless. I guess I'm just really curious what the general classroom will look like in 10 years.