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For years now I have wondered about the term “educational technology.” What does it mean? What does it contribute to the world at large? Does it actually make a difference to the students as they graduate and move into the real world?

There is a reason the word technology takes second billing in the phrase. Technology is a tool for helping deliver the education. The hammer and the pneumatic nailer are both tools that reach the same result. One is technical, requiring understanding and practice to use safely and at peak efficiency. The other is a hammer. Are we teaching our students and staffs how to use the nailer at the expense of the hammer or at the expense of being able to choose the right one at the right time?

Each new technology that comes down the pike with furor and fanfare will be replaced by another “superior” technology. Chalkboard to whiteboard to interactive multimedia presentation system. Has the message on the media changed or are we just pandering to a perceived short attention span mindset? “This is the computer generation people! They can’t learn without digital tech!” Funny, I still see groups of kids sitting around a teacher as she reads aloud and turns the pages of a (GASP) book! Why do we have such a hard time accepting the fact sometimes a teacher just wants to use a whiteboard?

Listen, I’m not damning all educational technology. You know me better than that. What I am challenging us with is getting off the high horse that technology is THE answer and look at it as AN answer. We must spend time working with our staffs and helping them think through their options. We also MUST be willing to accept part of a technology solution is the willingness of the user to use the system. We must also accept sometimes the most technical answer is not the best one.

Stop screaming in the echo chamber. Prove you know what you are talking about to people outside the technology field. Present intelligent discussion and options to your staffs and stop the Luddite branding if technology isn’t the chosen solution. In the end it’s all about Benjamin, baby.

Think I’m wrong? Bring it on.

5 Creative Ways to Get Around Roadblocks | LifeDev

LifeDev has a great article about getting around roadblocks in life.  I suggest you take the recommendations and apply them to the challenges you have in getting access to the technology you think you need in the classroom:

1. Recognize the roadblock as an opportunity for growth.

2. Get your creative juices flowing.

3. Engage others in the process.

4. Be willing to negotiate.

5. Remain optimistic about finding a solution.

Don’t pass up opportunities to make small changes rather in lieu of the “tilting at windmills” types of paradigm shifts so many ed-tech bloggers enjoy advocating.  Each step brings you closer.  The more you help your administration recognize the mountain is not that high or that steep, the easier the trip will be.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent chatter in the edublogsphere (made up word) about the “cocktail party” and “echo chamber” for writing and being read as part of this community. I think it’s time we shift our thinking. Rather than wasting time worrying whether the bloggerati (another made up word) are following what you have to say and the profound effect it is or is not having on the world at large, let’s focus on the the people we can truly make an impact with…the teachers and staff we deal with on a daily basis. Strategic planning and conceptual models are good for creating mission statements and visions but if they’re never followed up by operational discussions, implementation plans, and success reviews we’ve become nothing more than pointy-haired managers avoiding real responsibility and accountability for making a difference in education.

If you want something to write about of value, get away from the theory and “fluffy thinking” rampant in ed-tech and concentrate on the practical, tactical aspects of what can be done to deliver more value to the students and staff. Digital citizenship, immigrants vs. natives, and all the 30,000 foot discussions floating around the internet deliver little practical value to the students and staff members who are trying to make this stuff work day in and day out. If you want to be read write about something worth reading such as the successes you’ve had implementing certain technologies or better yet the challenges you encountered and how you overcame them.

Based on this I am stepping away from the theoretical discussions. I leave those to the experts. I’m a strategist with an eye for implementation and that’s where I’m focusing my time, my writing, and my blog from now on. As for the cocktail party…I’ll be down the street having a coffee at the diner.

CamStudio - Free Screen Recording Software

If you’re tasked with teaching your teachers (or anyone else for that matter) how to use web applications or software, this is a great tool to download. Open Source (so there’s no cost), easy to use, and compact, you can record all your screen actions and add on your own voice over to produce mini-training videos. Load those videos into a blog library and you’re all set.

Will Richardson has done it again…he’s got me thinking and headed for my soapbox.

…how in god’s name can we talk seriously about 21st Century skills for kids if we’re not talking 21st Century skills for educators first? The more I listened, the less I heard in terms of how we make the teaching profession as a whole even capable of teaching these “skills” to kids. Sure, there were mentions of upgrading teacher preparation programs and giving teachers additional time in the school day to collaborate, etc. But the URGENCY was all around the kids. Shouldn’t the URGENCY be all about the teachers right now?

Why does it take going to a conference of over 6,000 educators to get us to come up with this?  Is this a big friggin’ tree blocking the forest?  There is no question in my mind the only way we will see any true shift is at the teacher level.  No matter how much educational technologists (us) push administration and superintendents (them) without support and desire at the teaching level the exercise is purely academic (pun intended.)  If we are to get teachers to recognize the importance of them learning these tools and then sharing with their students, they need to recognize we know what we’re talking about and we’re giving them good guidance.

Finally, I was struck by how difficult it felt to accept much of what I was hearing because, and this is something that is really concerning me (seriously), few if any of these folks had the network creds to be “trusted.” Now I know this is an admission that is going to get me in trouble, and it likely should. But it is also a consequence of being rooted so deeply in this network. It’s not that I distrust their “traditional” creds out of hand, but it’s almost like for me, these days, if you’re not doing at least a little bit of social, networked learning and publishing that I can tap into and track and engage with, I’m just not as inclined to buy in when you’re talking about reforming education with or without technology.

The credentialing of traditional academia has been the downfall of interactions with the technical community for years.  If you corner a tech and ask them about “professional certifications” they will usually (if they’re worth their salt) sneer slightly and comment about “book learning versus the real world.”  It’s too easy to study a guide, take a test, and be “certified.”  I know…I was…a lot.  I let them expire because I recognized the only thing they provided me was a measurement against a minimum standard.  There’s no establishment of skill and capability tied to it.  How many professors do you know with multiple degrees that deep down you think they don’t have a clue how things work in the “real world.”  Now don’t get me wrong…there’s a place and a time for credentialing.  I agree with Will in the respect of if you truly want to be recognized and taken seriously start putting yourself out on a limb and sharing your thoughts and experiences with the world.

Let’s face it folks.  When it comes to technology the bulk of the population has no idea what it takes to be good at understanding and applying tech on a day to day basis.  They have no appreciation for the number of hours put in learning about new and changing topics and concepts daily with the complete understanding that the skills and applications you learn today will most likely not be around tomorrow.  Try explaining to a math teacher or a history teacher they will have to all but relearn their topic area every couple of years.  No one has to deal with version 2.0.5.7b of the Gettysburg Address.  Service Pack 6 for geometric proofs isn’t available for install.  It’s a different world in the tech space and if you want to get people to listen you have to prove you know what you’re talking about.  No piece of paper is going to do that for you.