On Tuesday I got to hear Chris Kennedy speak. He is a principal, teacher and somewhat of an unofficial district technology guru. His main message: “It isn’t about the Technology!” Good teaching practice transcends the use of technology. What technology can do is: create new ways to use and improve your skills as a teacher; engage and interest students in ways that you could not before; prepare students for a world very different than the one we grew up in.

It was the ‘side trips’ in the talk that I really appreciated. Here are two that hit a chord with me.

1. Mentorship: Chris weaved into his talk, time and again, how much he appreciated his mentors at the school – teachers whom he learns from. He seems to have created a real learning community at his school (with a voluntary book club, and an open invitation for any teacher to come to Team Leader/ Department Heads Meetings).

“Teachers want to be more than independent contractors that share a parking lot.”

Chris also mentioned how important it is to be in an environment where “I can screw up and it is ok,” and he notes that critical friends are needed as well as mentors.

In my exploration of web2.0 I have not done a good job of seeking out mentors… the result has been hours of forging my own trail, trial and error, and in many cases a very steep learning curve. Chris spoke humbly of his digital immigrant status, and that he counts on friends, teachers, students and mentors to show him new things that he then plays around with, until he too can take ownership of the new skills or tools. It is interesting that in the past couple of days I have had two friends request some time with me to ‘show them the ropes’ with some of the tools that I use. All these people seeking mentors and here is stubborn Dave slogging away at it on his own… This I will [am] change [ing]!

2. Not Obstacles but Opportunities: Before I begin this section I need to give a little background to my day, before Chris’ talk. I started the day at a team leader meeting where it was decided that we are banning mp3 players from our classes. Students are free to use them outside of class on breaks, but not in the classroom. I voiced my desire not to do this, but I didn’t have the benefit of hearing Chris talk before this decision, and I guess that I was less than convincing.

Here are my notes from Chris’ talk:

Kids are going to text message.
How are we going to make that work in our school?

When someone wants to ban something,
I ask myself,
how can we use this to help us in education?
‘It is a new tool’.
Not obstacles but opportunities.

I like mp3’s in my Math class. Students know that when I talk, headphones are to be removed from their ears. In my experience students appreciate, and are respectful of, the opportunity to listen to music in class. However, I also know how important it is on a staff to have teachers support and show respect for school rules (and each other). I have already made the rule clear to my students… I just happen to think that this is something that teachers should have autonomy over.

Now here is the thing… Am I using mp3’s in my class for any kind of educational purpose? No, not specifically… and until I do, it really isn’t something I should be terribly upset about.

What it comes down to is qualifying the kind of questions we are going to ask ourselves when considering (new or ubiquitous) technology use in the classroom.

“How can we use this?” Seems to be a much better question than, “Should we?”

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Photos: ‘Helping Hand’ by popofatticus/Barrett Hall, ‘What Dragon?’ by wjklos/William Klos.

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