When Tech Tools Disappear

Teaching today isn't quite teaching from 20 years ago. The technology innovations, and their prevalence have made their use (and teaching of how to use them) a vital part of practice. Ultimately, if we are to prepare kids for a future we need to embed these tools in our work. We need to do this even if we don't know what the future looks like. One thing is for certain: the toothpaste isn't going back in the tube, and technology isn't going away.

My district has a technology levy, and the use of technology is expected. We are actually paid to be trained to use particular tools (in fact I helped create a class for this year). I think the funding comes through the levy, although I might be wrong (I have been known to forget). The funny thing about these classes is that they are tech tool dependent. If the tool goes away, your class doesn't exist.

That brings me to an issue that arose on Friday. One of the tools that my district adopted is going away... and we don't know when! The company that is responsible for managing the tool (an online forum/portal that was secure) is pulling it from the market because of an economic slowdown issue. We don't know when it will be unavailable, we just know it is going away. There is an upside to this: the same strategies we were using for an online forum can be translated into in-class work. Instead of posting online, I can have students print responses and post them on a bulletin board. Kids can then make handwritten or typed responses to reply. I could also have them email or send responses to a dropbox. I can then print them with names, or anonymously, for kids to reply to. We can analyze and give feedback in small group or whole class settings.

The beauty of the online format has been seeing kids respond to each other. They've agreed/disagreed and been specific in their feedback. Kids can then go back and edit, which they have! The power of the online discussion has let kids who are quieter move to equal footing. Seeing this tool go away (although they are going to find another service that is similar) will be sad. But it is just part of the world we live in... things change, innovation happens... global slowdowns happen!

New Platform

My district is moving towards a roll-out of a new online platform for elementary and secondary students. The platform is an online one-stop site for kids and teachers to access and communicate. I wasn't able to go to the first training because of a conflicting training, but tinkered with it today. I spent about an hour adding discussion posts, creating a blog, adding pictures, and adding "news items." This should be a great addition to the repertoire.

I currently have kids submitting assignments via a dropbox on our district network, and we use our class wiki fairly heavily (although we don't edit it in quite the way we did last year). I have wanted to start a blog for kids, but was reluctant to do so because of privacy issues. While this blog will be restricted to staff, and students, I feel significantly more comfortable with the level of privacy. The audience piece will be different (not people globally or even in the greater Seattle area) but I think it will work out just fine. Why I am doing this on a Saturday is beyond me. Maybe I'm just that much of a geek who has little better to do than think about the instructional possibilities that will grow my practice.