Drape's Takes

I've been thinking about Stephen and D'Arcy's comments lately, and the feelings they've shared about the importance of their personally-created online spaces.

I can’t let myself play egocentric mind games with numbers. I can’t delude myself into believing this space is Important, or cringe popular because those things aren’t real, and don’t matter.

From my point of view, the online spaces we create are extremely important, regardless of any numbers that might work toward quantifying that importance. As a vehicle that enables my presence within the conversations that take place online, my blog, Twitter account, and other online creations not only serve as a locker for my thoughts, but function as a digitally-preserved representation of my inner self.  Parker J. Palmer insightfully observed that "'We teach who we are', in times of darkness as well as light" (2007, p. xi). Similarly, the teaching we do while sharing online ultimately broadcasts who we are as people: infinitely important individuals who some eventually come to know because of those spaces we've crafted online.


In the end, nevertheless, the quantification of our importance really is meaningless, much less insulting when attempted via Google Analytics. Are we, as humans, really so insecure in our relative performance to one another that we must incessantly measure and compare? To what end? While "progress," perhaps, is gained through adjustments informed by research, the liberating reality of life is that success in teaching and learning comes not in passing the test, but rather in grooming the soul.  Through such grooming come college preparedness, readiness for life, and learning that sticks.

I'm grateful to see that others in this world continue to "attach no more importance to measurable things than we attach to things equally or more important that elude our instruments" (Palmer, 2007, p. xiii). Now, if only more that share this line of thinking would continue to step forward and formally lead our schools.

---

Reference:

Palmer, P. J. (2007). The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

An important question has been posed by our district’s Superintendent that has heavily occupied my thoughts over the last few days. My initial take follows (complete with an ample supply of cutting-edge, 21st Century, digital-age buzz).


What is the purpose of IT in preparing students for college success?

• To assist all educators in the task of teaching students to learn how to learn.
• To assist all educators in the task of teaching students to effectively function in the same kinds of technologically rich learning environments found on and around college campuses.
• To provide access to knowledge and information outside of the immediate school environment, while enabling teachers to understand best practices in empowering students with that access.
• To provide functioning technologies that can improve the learning process, while supporting teachers in empowering students with these technologies.
• To facilitate communication and collaboration between all members of Canyons District learning communities.

In other words, the purpose of IT includes supporting teachers in their use of technology to:

• Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity
• Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessments
• Model digital-age work and learning
• Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility
• Engage in professional growth and leadership

...and supporting administrators in their use of technology to:

• Provide visionary leadership
• Facilitate a digital-age learning culture
• Promote excellence in professional practice
• Enable systemic improvement
• Model appropriate examples of responsible digital citizenship

Well, there you have it (kind of reminds me of this). Anything you'd add to or remove from my list?