Comments on: ITEC 2009 – Tweetup videos

By: Angela Maiers

Angela Maiers — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Karen and Carl,

My intention was not to offend or insult the hard work of teachers. I have the utmost respect and honor for the hours spent creating learning experiences that engage and promote the creative and critical thinking potential of students.

It should concern each and every educator dedicated to preparing students for their future, to see students in the 21st Century spending time in school filling in blanks, answering recall questions, and defining vocabulary words.

The pleas is not for more technology but rather to spend our time, energy, and effort differently.

By: Carl Anderson

Carl Anderson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

That last comment by Angela is truly the rub. How does someone wanting to or even charged with promoting the use of technology in the classroom bring this up to teachers? You can’t word it the way she does without turning people off. In my experience most teachers would find such a comment, as truthful as it is, insulting.

How do we reframe that question to make it in teacher’s self interest to question how they use their time?

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I completely agree with Carl Anderson. Angela’s comments were insulting and put to question the hours I spent when I was teaching full time and the hours that many teachers spend every day on the teaching duties that cannot be completed using technology. Technology education is a vital part of contemporary education, and finding ways to teach teachers how to successfully teach and encourage students to use technology responsibly should be a big part of technology education. However, we need to remember that much of the best education takes place thanks to dedicated, compassionate, knowledgeable people, not computers.

By: Scott

Scott — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

@Karen: Why is it insulting to recognize that much of what we do as educators is time spent on the wrong things? That has nothing to do with how dedicated or hard-working educators are. We can be dedicated and work hard at the wrong things. This applies to teachers and administrators both. Paradigm shifts and revolutions require that we do some things DIFFERENTLY, which means replacing some of what we do now with something else. We can’t just keep piling more on top of what we’re already doing. Isn’t that all that Angela was saying?

By: Zach

Zach — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

I often wonder why teachers don’t spend more time reflecting on how they’re spending their time. Not only would this encourage a shift of priorities, but it might lead to a wider embrace of technology.

I’m constantly saying “if you find yourself in [fill in the blank process] and it’s taking you hours to complete, I guarantee someone’s come up with a technological solution that will save you significant time.”

Of course, this does require a bit of up front time investment. And it’s new (which doesn’t jive well with most teachers latent conservatism).

By: Matt Townsley

Matt Townsley — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 05:00:00 +0000

Thanks for posting these, Russ and Scott. It was great meeting so many of you in person at ITEC this year.