Technology and Instruction - Not Always A Happy Relationship

I recently read the article "Why Ed Tech Is Not Transforming How Teachers Teach" from Education Week.  The author, Benjamin Herold, pointed out the giant elephant in the room: we have spent millions of dollars on technology, but we are still teaching the way we did in the past.  Why?  While he points out many reasons, one stuck out to me:

"...[more important] may be teachers' level of confidence in trying it out in their classrooms.  If they do not believe that they can use technology to accomplish their classroom goals, they appear unlikely to seriously attempt. it."

This speaks volumes to how we need to structure our professional development.  It's one thing to teach about the tool - it's another to showcase instructional strategies with a specific tool or set of tools.  While there is a time and place for training and teaching staff how a tool works, we must provide guidance and support for utilizing that tool in the classroom.

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To all 6235 class members:
Read the article (linked at the top of the post).  Post a response to this blog post (I will follow everyone after you post).  In your response, add a confirmation to the article and/or a question that comes to mind.

Teaching in the 22nd Century

The 22nd Century?  Are your years off a little?

Yes, we are just 16 years into the 21st Century.  Yes, we still have 84 years to go until the 22nd Century is beginning.

However, we have been talking about teaching for the 21st Century since my years in the public school system as a student in the 20th Century.  We need to have a forward focus.  Times and technology are changing extremely quickly.  This means we cannot just focus on the hear and now.  We need to focus forward.

This blog is dedicated to the forward focus in education.  We cannot teach our students with the same methods we did in the early 20th Century while we say we want to focus on the 21st Century.  We need to prepare our students for a world beyond the hear-and-now.

My oldest daughter is the class of 2028.
My youngest is the class of 2032.

What world will they be living in 84 years from now?  What world will their own children be living in 84 years from now?  Let's think forward - not stuck in the present with the past holding us back.