The Breakfast Buffet of Educational Technology
I received an email from a long-time friend and colleague, an excellent teacher in his own right. I think that most of us share his concerns and know that I hover around this stage of thought on a nearly daily basis.
Darren: do you ever have time to eat? How does one deal with all this information and comment? I just spent some time reviewing the Plaxo site.... Your site..... Myriads of Methods: desperately searching for ways to overcome a society unconcerned with the mechanisms of fulfillment. We have... children filled to overflowing with activities created by technology and social routines that require SUPER teachers to compete successfully with teaching legitimate curriculum. Have you ever experienced the breakfast buffet table at an expensive hotel? Attempts at consumption defeat the sumptuousness!This is how I responded.
I hear you, brother, and love your analogy! So, my advice to you would be to pick an entree, start there, and ignore the rest. In other words, start with something you're already doing in your classroom and find one way - only one - to include a technology component into your instruction.Not sure if that's the kind of answer he was really hoping for, but it's all I had at the time. In hindsight, I likely should have mentioned how fruitless it can be to include technology into teaching and learning just for technology's sake - but then again, this is a person that already knows that.
If you want to run the activity by me, I can probably suggest a good tool or two to help you enjoy the banquet in a more controlled fashion.
So, what selections of advice would you add to my paltry share?
Image Source: Flickr user sacofat
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