Choose Wisely and Go Deep

Choose wisely and go deep.

This reminds me of the "good old days" when conversation about technology in classrooms revolved around overhead projectors and listening stations with multiple jacks for headphones with an audio cassette player, wall mounted TV's with built in or attached VCR's. I even remember the monster opaque projector that allowed you to project an image on the wall of any document you needed. Seems to me that what was true then is still true now. The equipment, the machine, the gadget is a means to an end. It is a method for delivering content in novel ways (Madeline Hunter anyone –varying your practice (Turner, 2004). The content is still the key; the content is still what drives the teacher to look for ways to make it come alive and relevant to students. Technology not driven by content is no better than a class hour spent watching a video that may "entertain" and hold student interest but does not deliver relevant and rigorous content.

I love the description in the Warlick article and the learning connections among the teachers, students, parents, principals and even the superintendent. It portrays a vibrant, humming learning community and is helpful for developing an exciting vision. But, what about today, right here, right now in our real schools? Where the variances in access to technology range from nonexistent to state of the art? What about communities where infrastructure issues create a barrier? What about schools where survival issues are part of the daily challenge?

I think I'm back where I started. Choose wisely and go deep. Content delivery drives the tools – not the other way around. Consider this cycle:

• Survey the available resources (gather the data),
  
• Seriously examine what is consistently and effectively available: connections that will not load when everyone is trying to get on do not get you anywhere. (study the data)
  
• Make a plan, a real tech plan that includes ways to use what you have now and ways to "kick it up a notch" (make a plan)
  
• Go to work, try it out, advertise it, make it a big deal (implement the plan)
  
• Keep track of the work, frequently enough to know how it is going and make changes as needed. (There's that Madeline Hunter again – monitor and adjust (Turner, 2004)
  
• Study your results and begin again. Study, plan, do, study, plan, do.
  

Choose wisely, go deep. Blogs, wikis, RSS, cell phones, Ipods…all good, all with wonderful engaging potential, all tools, all methods for delivering content in novel ways. I look forward to learning to use them and sharing my learning with you. Come and go with me – we can choose wisely and go deep together.

Works Cited

Turner, R. (2004). Madeline Hunter's Mastery Teaching. Corwin Press.