Education

Stop Whining About Technology

By Anthony Rebora — January 28, 2008 1 min read
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In an uncharacteristically ornery mood, Bill Ferriter says he’s fed up with teachers who say the they don’t have time to incorporate technology into their instruction. He’s having none of it. If teachers want to shed their reputation as “whiners,” he writes:

we simply must stop shooting down every suggestion and find the capacity within our ranks to improve our own conditions. We're not as helpless as we like others to think that we are."

And yet he admits that administrators and policymakers are at least partly to blame because, well, in fact, most teachers don’t have enough non-instruction to learn new tools. Nor do schools give teachers adequate professional development in digital technology.

In any case, he says, the use of technology in teaching is far too important to be dismissed as a “luxury” for somebody else to worry about:

Mastery in the 21st century is primarily about learning to use technology to retrieve, evaluate, synthesize and manage information--and (more importantly) to network with other learners. "Digitally prepared children" will know how to use web-based tools to create, communicate and collaborate around areas of personal and professional interest. They will be creators--rather than simply consumers--of information.
It's simply impossible for teachers who have little personal experience with technology to effectively prepare children for this reality.

Buy that man an iPhone.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Blogboard blog.