Jody’s Post-KySTE Points

I suppose I should preface by saying that this is Jody’s entry – Marty invited me over to kyedtech.com to make the occasional blog entry and he’s been accused of making a couple of my entries.  I’ll stick it in the post title as well and we’ll call it good.  On to the ramblings!

The KySTE conference was held last week in Louisville.  The theme, as I recall, was “connect, collaborate, change.”  The conference was very good and the theme was spot-on, as I definitely connected and collaborated and left with the realization that I need to change.  I enjoyed reading Bryan Sweasy’s thoughts on KySTE and his blog entries are well worth your time.  He speaks to the fear that some attendees have and I could sense some of that as well.  Part of what I want to share involves emotions as well, but perhaps from a different angle.

Point 1 – Technology and quick access to everything is making me (us?) impatient – During our Wednesday session, we used GoSoapBox for some backchanneling.  We had a two-hour block to fill, which is intimidating enough, so we tried to start with and insert some comedy along the way to get everyone through the session.  The backchannel had several relevant points, but there were also some entries like “stick to your day job” and “I didn’t know you were a comic.”  Some of that is all in good fun, but part of it does speak to my larger point.  I saw it (and felt it myself) during the introduction to the keynote address, when the KySTE President tried some comedy.  I was ready for the keynote speaker and, along with others, may or may not have groaned, rolled my eyes and looked at my watch during what was no more than 5-10 minutes of fun with Internet slang.  Am I so important that I couldn’t be bothered with that?  Was it that bad?  I wanted to get to the presentation.  “Let’s get to the point!”  Then, during the keynote, Scott McLeod was building to his big takeaways and I found myself wanting to jump ahead, thinking “…I’ve seen this myself, let’s move on…”  Of course, I have Twitter and RSS feeds and DVR and the ability to scroll quickly through any text on a browser.  I live in a world where I can not only consume more quickly than ever, but I can also be more selective about what I consume.  Bryan’s post about Pandora’s Box being opened and everyone being scared is correct.  Perhaps this underlying impatience is the reason why.  A student with a device doesn’t have to be bothered with the teacher’s delivery pace or be restricted to the content that the teacher wishes to share.  That’s potentially revolutionary and it’s also scary.  Access is wonderful, but patience is a virtue and I don’t want to become so impatient that I can’t enjoy a conference.  I felt myself inch over a line and I’m going to try to do better moving forward.

Point 2 – We’re waiting for an expert who isn’t coming – Marty touched on an interesting point in a previous blog entry.  The next thing may be a bunch of little things.  We tell our students that critical thinking is one of the 4 C’s that they should aspire toward.  As I just pointed out, we have access to virtually everything… from all sorts of devices, gift-wrapped and delivered to our inbox or our RSS feed or whatever else we choose.  There’s no reason NOT to have whatever information we need for whatever purpose.  Yet, I attend a conference and hear a few attendees critique a presentation.  I might even do that myself at times.  An intelligent attendee suggested that he wouldn’t be presenting because the same topics he covered a few years ago were STILL being covered at this year’s conference.  I’m preaching to myself as much as anyone, but we’re all missing the mark if we think we’re going to attend a technology conference and be amazed with information that we’ve never heard before.  Our goal should be – as the conference title suggests – connecting and collaborating with others.  We might pick up different analogies or facts to help drive larger points home, but we’re wrong to assume that a speaker should have the ability to impart “new knowledge” on a room full of advanced technology users who can scour the Web with any number of automated tools.  There’s no need to nitpick a presentation apart because you’ve already heard it – honestly, technology leaders going to a technology conference SHOULD be aware of nearly all of the concepts being discussed.  We need people to share what they’re doing.  We need to connect and collaborate and applaud those willing enough to share what they’re doing.  If you’re already doing it, consider it validation.

Point 3 – Are your students dealing with points 1 and 2?  If so, it’s time to act!  If you could relate at all to the first two points, ask yourself if your students are dealing with the same frustrations every day at school.  If they are, it’s time to make some changes.  Most of what I could link or recite would suggest that technology can lead to increased student achievement if you’re sure to insert the critical piece of student engagement.  Technology -> increased engagement -> increased achievement.  There are well-intentioned people on both sides of that debate, as there are legitimate concerns that the novelty will soon wear off and technology’s impact diminishes when the “new car smell” wears off.  Here’s where I would suggest that we trust our teachers.  My guess is that most can tell you whether or not a certain student is learning.  Technology might be the answer or it might not.  I can’t help but think, though, that we can do more to increase access to content.  Not every student will flock immediately to it and some might be hard-pressed to do so even with the prodding of a caring teacher.  Technology is a tool.  It can be used very effectively in the right hands of someone with the right training.  As technology leaders, we should be doing all we can to provide tools and instruction to our staff so they can be best prepared to engage students in the classroom.  It won’t work for every student or every teacher and we’ll have to learn to accept that.  We offer choices in the lunch line, different methods of transportation and different electives for students to take.  Teachers need to at least have the option to use various technology resources in their instruction and we have a role in making that happen.