When I consider education and how technology fits into the big picture, I think of three mission statements:
- To enhance student learning
- To increase staff efficiency
- To build community
The 21st century is an exciting time. Perhaps the most exciting in human history when one considers the ramifications. Before now, only the wealthy and the powerful could publish their views to any sizeable audience. Authorship was the domain of the elite. Today, anyone and everyone can publish to the world. Don’t be surprised when you see a US President elected on the strength of an Internet campaign as the primary medium for soliciting support.
A 6,000 year old tradition is coming to an end. In about 4,000 BC, the Egyptians first created paper in the form of papyrus. Since then, paper has been the sole medium for recording and transmitting human knowledge, wisdom and thought. The western world was flung into the dark ages largely because of the fire in the Library at Alexandria where the bulk of western knowledge was lost. Sounds like a great case for off-site backups.
Today, the medium of human knowledge is becoming digital and the effects are profound. Now we can transmit information around the world in micro-seconds. We can see publications from anywhere on the planet in the exact manner in which the author intended. We can collect and analyze data at such astonishing speeds. Yet, when people think of educating children these days, they still think of the book…
Even though the very bedrock of education is being shaken to the core, there is a constant we can look to for guidance; a north star to help us navigate the stormy seas of change. I suggest that the core value of Education is to prepare students to use the tools of human knowledge and to develop the intellectual capacity to access, evaluate, apply and even publish to humanity’s body of knowledge thus becoming successful adults, lawful neighbors and productive citizens. Where once this automatically meant books, paper and pencils managed by skillful teachers; now it means computers, graphing calculators, Internet, probe-ware, CAD, simulators, memory keys, video games, data analysis, blogs as well as books, paper and pencils all managed by skillful teachers. When you list out just the materials of modern education, before you even think about the best practices of “universal achievement,” it can feel overwhelming. But if we keep oriented to this core value, we can find our way and deliver on the promise of a free and quality public education for all children.