...But justice is blind

The student voice section starts out with testimony on technology by a high school student named Randy Herrera. At home he is a technophile. At school, he despises the computers for many useful sites are blocked. This is not a unique story. I can, as I am sure many of my colleagues can as well, relate to an experience such as this in high school, wanting to work on a project or waste time in Computer Applications, tried to visit a site and was denied. I think it's fabulous that schools are operating in a domain where most students are more comfortable but some of their ideas are counterproductive. It's similar to telling a dog to run free while you are holding onto the leash; the dog isn't stupid - he isn't going to try and run because he knows he isn't free. Students don't feel motivated to create content and become immersed with their work that could possibly become something enjoyable if they know they lack the freedom to really become engaged. Marc Pensky reflects my sentiments to a T:

“School represents the past. After-school is where they are training themselves for the future. The danger is that as school becomes less and less relevant, it becomes more and more of a prison.”


They also mention in the article teachers potentially using video games, MP3's, cell phones and other familiar technology to educate the students. Well, the presentation at the DATE conference showed the benefits of doing that. We've discussed this many times in class but it can't be said enough- teachers need to be able to relate to students, no matter what students are now into. If teachers can't adapt to the new climates being presented to them, then perhaps Steve Jobs was right and more teachers need to be canned that can't hack it.


But thankfully, all hope is not lost. The stories in the article of teachers embracing technology with open arms gives me hope that more school districts are getting the hint and starting to mold themselves into technological meccas.