Back to School Night: Low-Tech

Last night was Back to School night at my kids' school.  There are exciting things going on in both classrooms, and I am happy that my children have such passionate and devoted teachers.

But one thing I noticed?   In both classrooms, I heard (mostly) fearful and/or disdainful references to technology.   

There was a tiny TV in the corner of the room on which our principal and PTA president delivered the keynote welcome--usually done in the flesh.  So, there was that.  I would have also liked to hear how this particular kind of "technology" can be and is used to promote learning and critical thinking skills.  Is it just used as a TV, as it was last night?  Because if it is, that's nothing new, of course.  Will video be produced by the kids to demonstrate understanding of a topic or produce a school newscast?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

We did talk about an important ("serious") part of the third-grade curriculum:  Cursive!  

The main rationale given for teaching it? Because there aren't enough laptops the kids can use for typing their work.  (I'm not sure I get it, but I think it's arguable.)  I'm going to go out on a limb and guess my kids will NEVER have to use cursive.  (And as far as producing a signature, I'm sure that'll be outdated in, say, 10 years.  If not, I didn't develop mine until I was an adult, and it took all of about five minutes.)  Instead of cursive, couldn't we substitute more math?  Science?Literature?  Writing?  Lunch time?  Recess?  

In another classroom, technology was referred to as the enemy of early literacy.  Young children come to school now "not able to handwrite."  (Though of the ten children I know in that class, some of whom attended the Pre-K, ALL of them can write.)  And this is blamed on--computers?  I'm not sure this is true, but if it is, then maybe technology can be our friend in this endeavor.  

While doing some research today, I happened upon this article promoting the latest issue of the the fabulous magazine, Educational Leadership.  In this case, the subject is specifically social networking, but it applies to every other kind of technology out there.  

I've copied and forwarded it both to the principal of my kids' school and Dr. Alvarez.   Below is a tiny excerpt, but I am personally looking forward to reading more of the new issue.  I hope you will, too.

New communications tools are now supporting group interaction and group actions in ways they have never done before. As a result, the way we communicate, read, write, listen, persuade, learn from others, and accomplish community actions is changing. Or, as someone said when we were planning this issue of Educational Leadership, "Literacy—it's not just learning to read a book anymore."

"Students will be—and to some extent already are—living in a world of online interactions for which they currently have few learning contexts or models," Will Richardson (p. 26) tells us:

Teaching students to contribute and collaborate online in ways that are both safe and appropriate requires instruction and modeling, not simply crossing our fingers and hoping for the best when they go home and do it on their own.

We mustn't be fearful or label this new reality a fad just because we don't possess fluency with the media yet. We must instead remember how much our kids need us to teach them the old literacy skills and facilitate the learning of the new. As Jason Ohler writes, "Now more than ever, students need teachers who can help them sort through choices, apply technology well, and tell their stories clearly and with humanity."

Amen.