tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849319076574250282.post7311354330356505179..comments2023-11-07T03:42:31.477-05:00Comments on Chalkdust: 1:1 Learning and teachingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08156784418545421424noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849319076574250282.post-6131031886746493532007-05-07T06:22:00.000-05:002007-05-07T06:22:00.000-05:00Thank you both for furthering the conversation. T...Thank you both for furthering the conversation. This article has done much to shed light on what I think a lot of us had taken for granted: once technology is placed in the hands of teachers, everything else will just fall into place. <BR/><BR/>If these initiatives could become a grassroots phenomena, whereby the teachers themselves begin to demand the technology and the training, then we would see systemic change. <BR/><BR/>This could be the place where we all come in. Bing, your two-hour session was immensely eye-opening for a lot of the attendees, and Carolyn, the work you do on a daily basis with your staff probably wins converts as well. If only there was a way to speed up the process or create a stronger "felt need" by the teacher-learners.<BR/><BR/>To answer you back, Bing, I played rugby while at Syracuse and Chuck's was one of our sponsors, so we inevitably ended up there on Saturday's in the Fall. I worked at Faegan's for the years I was there, so that is where I spent the majority of my leisure time as well. Memories...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08156784418545421424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849319076574250282.post-91565374455293759712007-05-06T21:13:00.000-05:002007-05-06T21:13:00.000-05:00Patrick: Thank you for directing me to the NYT art...Patrick: Thank you for directing me to the NYT article. After reading about Liverpool's laptop "failure" and reading your response, I have to agree with your basic premise: the school philosophy must change, not just the tools. For me, the most telling piece of the NYT article was this paragraph: "Such disappointments are the latest example of how technology is often embraced by philanthropists and political leaders as a quick fix, only to leave teachers flummoxed about how best to integrate the new gadgets into curriculums."<BR/><BR/>When imposed from above, initiatives like a laptop for every student can easily become misguided and ineffective and even disruptive. We don't need someone throwing laptops in our classrooms and then expecting miraculous results. In fact, I think we need the opposite. We need teachers to pilot and build change from the bottom and then seek necessary support from the top to nurture that change long term. Unfortunately, the inevitable missteps along the way become equated with "laptops aren't the answer." They're not the answer. Neither are blogs or wikis or podcasting. Good teaching is the answer. And good teachers can use tools like those to prepare their students for the 21st Century.<BR/><BR/>To echo Carolyn, your response to the NYT article was well-done and necessary. Thanks again.<BR/><BR/>And to answer a previous question of yours from a while back... I used to enjoy Hungry Charlies, Fagan's, and the Inn Complete during my SU graduate years. What about you?Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05517958038962746348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6849319076574250282.post-34393090352843310232007-05-06T20:31:00.000-05:002007-05-06T20:31:00.000-05:00I agree completely with your statement that:"failu...I agree completely with your statement that:<BR/><BR/>"failure of the Liverpool initiative, like others in the same boat, rests not on the students for their misuse or lack of performance on standardized tests, but rather on the school administrators and staff for failing to realize that a seismic shift needed to take place in their philosophy towards school."<BR/><BR/>I was very disheartened by the one-sidedness of the Times article. <BR/><BR/>There are schools rethinking their model of delivery, and thinking seriously about how laptops fit into that, and the article didn't cover any of those.<BR/><BR/>Not to mention her opening graf was very sensationalistic.<BR/><BR/>The unfortunate result of poorly done articles like this, I fear, is it feeds incentives to people who want to avoid the changes that technology may bring into their schools.<BR/><BR/>But almost all of the problems mentioned really had to do more with philosophy and implementation than the "laptops."<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I wrote more about this on my blog so I won't keep going on about it.<BR/><BR/>I do think that it is incumbent on all of us who know differently to write articles for print sources to counter poorly thought out articles like that one.Carolyn Footehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07581454611313810543noreply@blogger.com