“Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks: The Luxury of Digital Abundance”
The article deals with the question of, given the nearly ubiquitous presence and use of technology, what can be done with the remaining group of educators who are unable or unwilling to use that technology. The article jokingly suggests that the simplest solution is to “simply wait until they retire, eliminating the need to teach and mentor them into the mediasphere.”
Given the need to ‘get everyone on board’ with using technology (a strange thing to still address in 2012) is to give the technophobic teachers a series of small tasks to acquaint them with today’s technology tools. A series of ten suggestions are presented, ranging from “Create “Tech Wizard” students in your class- room or schools. These students can help you and other students with technology issues and ideas” to watching a YouTube video.
The concept presented in the title of the article, the luxury of abundance, refers to the older mindset (still harbored by some educators and administrators) that technology is so expensive and difficult to use that is just easier to do without. Today’s technology, with microcomputers in virtually everyone’s pocket (in the form of a smart phone), Web 2.0 tools and nearly universal access to broadband and wireless internet makes avoiding / ignoring technology difficult. The tools are there in front of all us. We task is to get everyone to use them.
The article concludes with this statement: “With the luxury of digital abundance comes the power to remove one more barrier to the reasoned use of digital technologies in education. But removing that impediment also means convincing a generation of thrift-minded educators that times have changed. Using digital technologies and new media and accessing the wide range of digital tools that are free on the Web is less wasteful than not using them.”
The article deals with the question of, given the nearly ubiquitous presence and use of technology, what can be done with the remaining group of educators who are unable or unwilling to use that technology. The article jokingly suggests that the simplest solution is to “simply wait until they retire, eliminating the need to teach and mentor them into the mediasphere.”
Given the need to ‘get everyone on board’ with using technology (a strange thing to still address in 2012) is to give the technophobic teachers a series of small tasks to acquaint them with today’s technology tools. A series of ten suggestions are presented, ranging from “Create “Tech Wizard” students in your class- room or schools. These students can help you and other students with technology issues and ideas” to watching a YouTube video.
The concept presented in the title of the article, the luxury of abundance, refers to the older mindset (still harbored by some educators and administrators) that technology is so expensive and difficult to use that is just easier to do without. Today’s technology, with microcomputers in virtually everyone’s pocket (in the form of a smart phone), Web 2.0 tools and nearly universal access to broadband and wireless internet makes avoiding / ignoring technology difficult. The tools are there in front of all us. We task is to get everyone to use them.
The article concludes with this statement: “With the luxury of digital abundance comes the power to remove one more barrier to the reasoned use of digital technologies in education. But removing that impediment also means convincing a generation of thrift-minded educators that times have changed. Using digital technologies and new media and accessing the wide range of digital tools that are free on the Web is less wasteful than not using them.”
