At one of yesterday’s EdCamp sessions, a teacher shared a few of his favorite apps. As I watched, I experienced a moment of déjà vu.
Devices are supplanting desktop/laptop computers — I’ve seen a couple of articles declaring the death of the desktop — and this shift requires us to “learn, unlearn, and relearn,” as Alvin Toffler predicted. The process of integrating devices in education bears a strong similarity to the process we went through 15 years ago when we started integrating computers in education.
THEN
NOW
Mac vs. PC
Apple vs. Android
software
apps
"user-friendly"
"intuitive"
guilty pleasure: collecting fonts
guilty pleasure: collecting free apps
computer labs
BYOD
Oregon Trail, Sim City
Coursera, MOOCS
Inservice: lists of web sites.
Inservice: lists of apps.
Teachers create websites.
Teachers create apps.
Op ed: Everyone should learn basic HTML code.
Op ed: Everyone should learn basic app coding.
Teachers given computers, told to figure out how to use them.
Teachers given devices, told to figure out how to use them.
Kids are more fluent than teachers.
No change.
The process we use is uneven, wasteful, even backwards at times. It succeeds only because teachers are willing to teach themselves and then share with others. Here’s to EdCamps everywhere!