Is a focus on tools a problem?
Karen Richardson recently wrote about her lament on the focus of tools instead of… something else with regards to technology-using teachers. Warlick chimed-in on her post, evidently he feels still it’s literacy that ought to be focused-upon.
I am not at all against looking/examining/thinking about our jobs as educators differently, “in a new light,” by changing our focus. Sometimes, changing focus changes perspectives. And change in education is hard to come by, so whatever works, use it, I say.
But I feel however far you travel, you will eventually come back to the tools, at hand. Why? Because once you convince a teacher to teach differently, to my hopes, in a constructionist’s guise, with a focus on project-based approaches, you will inevitably consider how to accomplish your teaching goals. And what tools are appropriate? Or, which tools are available?
Judi Harris, in an article linked from Karen’s blog suggests that teachers needn’t change their teaching for technology to be effective. But when I go into so many classrooms, I see a variety of practices that demand change. Technology used simply for convenience (Look ma! These word processors can check your spelling!) Teachers talking about a topic, then the lesson ends with notetaking. No matter if the notes are on an overhead or a PowerPoint slide.
It’s no wonder those classes in PowerPoint “went down” so easy for teachers. New tool, but same old approach. I think technology, especially today’s Web 2.0 technologies, can profoundly transform the way we think and learn… and while our approach to teaching and learning should evolve, so will the technologies available.
Ignoring the tools, I feel, says something else: the tools don’t matter. It’s the approach. Maybe so. But not much work gets done without the tools.
The classes I offer after school for teachers are focused typically on some tools. But this focus has changed for me and my approach over the years. It’s no longer software training, for sure. But some of the workshops inevitably focus upon a tool or more… If for instance we’re going to talk about the benefits of podcasts… we’ll at some point have to learn how to make one. The best tools, incidentally, are those that get in the way, so to say, the least. Jottit is a new tool that emerged yesterday (yes, just yesterday) that takes this maxim of simplicity to heart.
I had a very good experience this August talking to our entire staff on the needs of digital learners. I think I provided some with “inspiration” for considering the use of new tools. A rationale, if you will. But we can’t ignore these tools, can we?