Standards cont.
Thanks you to all of those that commented on the last posting on this topic. HereÂ’s the problem the teacher side of me says you are all correct. We need the standards, the framework in which to work. But then there is this other side.
We keep saying ‘we need them a few more years.Â’ and I know we do. But we are a good 6 years in to using technology full force in education. If this was a new reading program…or better yet a new testing system…we’d have been all over it: training, theory, implementation. What frustrates me is talking to people like I mention in this post, who are laughing at the education system and truly looking for the thinkers among us.
I guess what IÂ’m looking for is more focus on what the tool has to offer than the tool itself. Who cares about blogsÂ…itÂ’s what they offer that makes them so powerful. Do we really need to put it in writing? It will take me two 40 minute sessions to teach my 5th graders how class blogmeister works. ThatÂ’s it, the tool is done and the power of the tool begins. If we focus on what the tools have to offer then donÂ’t teachers have to use the tools?
Part of my problem is living in this city (Shanghai, China for those that are new). 20 million people who are living in the new flat world. Of course not all of them are, but I would bet most are in some way or another. There are signs all around Shanghai that state:
“In the 21st century the world’s eye is on Shanghai!”
Maybe thatÂ’s my problem. Maybe IÂ’m in the future, the now. Not visiting it but actually living in the busyness of it, the smog, the fast pace, and the flatness. If Shanghai is any indication of what a flat world looks like…we have a lot of work to do in education.
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