I wrote this topic down a while ago and finally the research is coming out about the poor results of cyber charter schools. Technology is NOT the key!! This idea that we can spend $2,500 to set up a student with a computer and software and they receive a quality K-12 education is complete crap. I am not negating all online course options or that online education might be a good option for special cases. The olympic gymnasts are good examples of this idea of unique cases.
Technology is a tool, but tools are only as good as the people using them are skilled. And technology in the classroom can be hard. It's time consuming, takes a lot of prep, and can waste valuable classroom time. On the other side, it is an absolute necessity of not only college readiness but any type of career readiness.
It's fascinating to see and read about different ways teachers are using technology in their classroom. From my old cooperating teacher using wiki pages to have the students write their own history textbook, to using clickers to engage students and work towards accurate calculations, to the school I read about in California with 7 math teachers in a computer lab with 200 students, and little rooms around the outside for small group instruction and culminating projects. Everyday I'm finding new tools, Glogster is my newest.
But there is no way teachers have the time or resources to keep up with the ed tech world. It has been almost a full time job for me to follow blogs and tweets, to be familiar with new resources, forums, and not to mention everyone is re-inventing their curriculum for the common core... it is exhausting.
I love using technology, I love teaching with technology, and it has really amazing things to offer, but it is not the solution to all our problems. And video taping great teachers and putting them up on youtube might seem like the way to go so everyone receives great teachers, but I assure you a youtube video does not show empathy, or a kind smile, or a handshake. Perhaps there is a segment of our population that wishes to create a troop of isolated, robots, working from home, completing tasks, and checking off boxes of objectives to be reached.
I don't want to live in a world like that. I want, no, I crave art, and music, and movies... I love creativity, and humor. But most of all life is about people. People are what make our lives worth living, building relationships with actual people. And the skill of building relationship start in the home and in schools. One could even make the case that part of the reason charter schools might be out performing public schools (in the places they are), someone is looking out for the child. There is clearly a relationship in that child's life.
I left teaching feeling more like a mother sometimes then a teacher, and when I returned to visit my students after my travels and was greeted by hundreds of hugs and grade updates. There are just no words... smiling from ear to ear, a sad place in your heart missing them, so proud and surprised of how much they have grown.
And then you think how many millions of kids just like them are out there fighting everyday.
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