Don’t worry. Technology has a way of creeping in everywhere, even if we don’t use it in the classroom on an ongoing basis. Students will learn it anyway (in school or elsewhere), if we like it or not, if we push them or not. Technology is a tool, and when it is helpful, we should use it and embrace it as educators. But if it hinders us, we should stay away. We should never make it the central issue, or central part of our teaching. It’s like saying that we should drive everywhere, no more walking, or biking. Of course the car is a very useful tool, and can take us far; but if we took the car into the forest we wouldn’t see the flowers, the little stream and the squirrels and birds.

Technology is a TOOL. We should use it as we see fit, and not the other way around. (Plus, I wouldn’t like to learn how to drive a car from someone that is just learning themselves and is paranoid of it).

I think what Scott’s raising here is the higher-order question of our responsibility to our students. A pithier posing of the question can be found in his earlier post: Are we doing what is best for our students, or are we doing what is most convenient for us? Leaving it up to the discretion of individual teachers relies heavily—too heavily—on our notions of professionalism and hopes that each one will truly “do what is best for our students” and not opt for the easy out. Arguably, the teacher is in the best position to determine what’s best for students. But we also know that individuals are fallible, forgetful, and in so many other ways human. Individuals collect into institutions, and an institution can be a really excellent vehicle for perpetrating and perpetuating inequities and injustices. And meanwhile, the individuals working within it keep chugging along in a pleasant ethical vacuum. Looking at technology integration through a social justice lens suggests that we DO have a greater responsibility here, and a need to be more intentional. Certainly part of that intentionality should include encouraging teachers’ reflection about how their individual instructional choices fit into the gestalt, meeting them where they are, and supporting their efforts to engage challenging and often discomfiting issues. But opting out shouldn’t be an option.

We do use the computers for more than these simple tasks, but it’s amazing how much the kids learn from even the easiest things that might just be a means to an end in terms of the learning objectives.