Try Pushing in the Clutch

Viktor E. Frankl said, “When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to change ourselves.” It strikes me that this is exactly the point for educators today. We cannot move back to a time when teachers were the sage on the stage, our students are just not interested  in learning from one source, or listening to a teacher drone on at the front of the room.  The genie is out of the bottle. 

One way this is evident is in Richardson’s Big Shift 4. In this shift, teaching becomes a conversation, not a lecture. Students are empowered to contribute to their learning. By publishing their work, students see that their learning matters. This shift has already happened in many classrooms, mine included. My students publish all forms of digital work, from blogs, to presentations, to animations and movies. I really don’t lecture anymore, but rely on prompts to springboard discussions. 

But I am interested in using technology. I am interested in changing the way I do things in my classroom if I think it will benefit my students. Probably most teachers feel that way too, at least about changes benefitting students. And this course has helped me see more clearly how and why some of these tools make sense to my students, even helping me re-vision how I might use some of these tools. 

The Big Shifts Will Richardson explained are significant. But they are no longer revolutionary ideas for educators and students who have 1:1 access to computing devices. These shifts have already happened.  For the students, that is. However, teachers are adapting to these shifts as humans adapt to any change, individually and uniquely. 

It is no more realistic to think that teachers have, or will, make these shifts, than it is to assume everyone has gotten rid of their DVD players and now all have BluRay. That is not the way people are. BluRay is clearly a superior technology. It looks and sounds better. Heck, it is even affordable now. But that doesn’t mean we all have adopted that change. I’m guessing there are some people who still even use their cassettes! Change is individual, the unique choice of each person.

Richardson is correct in saying the way we access information has changed. And I agree with the ideas of all ten of his Big Shifts. He is even correct in saying we as educators must change and adapt to and incorporate these shifts into our practice in order to be relevant and effective. So I don’t disagree with the big ideas here.

But in a show of hands, how many of you still don’t have 1:1 computing at your schools? Or reliable wireless? Or internet based content? I’m counting over half the room here. And until that changes for everyone, until we have time and training to become at least comfortable, if not adept, with these technologies, then the times, they ain’t a changing. Teachers need the tools, the training, and the time to become experts, change agents, in this new paradigm. Until then, our system will remain stuck, like an old model car whose transmission has failed, no big shift.

Richardson, Will. Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2010. Print.