What are we doing in education??

This month Time magazine has proclaimed "you" to be their person of the year for the role each and every one of us is playing in the transformation of the world wide web from an information repository to an interactive global community. Time calls the growing community of bloggers, podcasters and videographers a revolution with sites such as blogger, youtube and myspace attracting millions of subscribers and daily hit counts in the hundreds of millions.

Meanwhile in education we seem to be stuck in a debate around how much access we allow students, how we can best monitor and restrict their internet access and what is the best way to get music to play over the entire length of a powerpoint. While we lament funding cuts and grouse about the apathy of today's students and how they are just not interested in things we turn our backs on the many resources that are at our fingertips thanks to the growth of the read/write web. How many teachers do you know who are accessing the hundreds of soldiers blogs from Iraq or Afghanistan. How about using webcams to link up with other classes around the world or access one of the thousands of virtual fieldtrips from places like NASA and the San Diego Zoo. How about taking advantage of the price drop in digital cameras and designing lessons that put them in the hands of their students or encouraging students to create videos or podcasts. How many teachers have their students publish to the web and seek feedback from people with no vested interest other than having an opinion. Don't get me wrong I don't think it is the teachers' faults. I think it is a result of working in a system that has long been a dispenser of knowledge. In this environment information is to be given out in small, controlled doses so that progress can be measured and standards maintained, or created, in a sort of chicken and egg scenario.

While one to one laptops initiatives are seen to be cutting edge in the education world and have school districts all around North America scrambling to try and remortgage our children's' educational future so we can provide them with shiny new computers with no real sense of how they will be used. Perhaps school districts should take a closer look at why the large number of students who actually have their own laptops are not bringing them to school or using them in their classes. Maybe it is because students are not allowed to text message in class, MSN is banned, assignments are not online, email is blocked, wireless access is not provided and internet resources are not part of the lesson plans. The reality is that I do not need the school system to buy my children a laptop or monitor their online activity, I will do that. What I do need is a system that encourages rich learning activities that take advantage of the power, simplicity and creativity of a vibrant online community.

Everybody seems to get the power of the read/write internet and more so they are simply going online. Teenagers chatting about the latest episode of the OC, preteens creating online pets on www.tamagotchi.com, parents sharing the latest pictures of their kids and grandparents video chatting with their grandchildren. Everybody seems to be tapping into the power of the internet and molding it to their own purpose so what are we waiting for in education. Jump in, explore, play its OK, we might just learn something along with the students. In education we keep investing in infrastructure and hardware asking ourselves is this revolutionizing education yet. What we really should be doing is looking to the kids and the online community to see what we can take advantage of before the revolution runs right over us.

Anyways, this is a little deep for Christmas vacation but if you want to read a position paper I wrote about technology not being just a tool feel free to download it here. Not Just a Tool

Click here for the Time magazine cover story Cover Story

Happy Holidays

Well, the holidays have begun and it is sure nice to pause and take a deep breath after what has seemed like a hectic start to the school year. It is hard to believe that it is already December 23rd. Somehow I don't really feel as prepared for Christmas as I should be but the decorations are up, the presents are under the tree, the eggnog is chilling in the fridge and The Flintstones Christmas Caroll is on TV so maybe we do have it under control.

2006 has been a good year for us. We had a fantastic time in Sayulita, Mexico at spring break with my Mom, Dad and Cyndi and Scott. I know you are all dying to see some photos so feel free to click Sayulita. In fact we liked it so much we are heading back this spring break with Marla's family and some friends. I must admit despite years of putting her off Marla is starting win me over to this whole just lying on the beach thing. Of course 70 cent Pacificos don't hurt either. We had a great summer with hot weather and many sunny days at the lake with family and friends. Graeme thinks he is a tubing god and Connor has realized that if you fall off in the middle of the lake you actually won't drown. Connor also caught his first fish this summer and, in fact, skunked Graeme and I on several occasions.

Marla is back at College Heights this year and is enjoying her second year as she starts to feel more at home at a new school and enjoys the people she works with. She does, however, secretly wear wear Duchess Park t-shirts under her clothes sometimes so I don't think the black and gold has been completely exercised. I am also back at PGSS this year doing the VP thing . It is nice to not be the new guy and at least have the students spell my name right when they decorate the bathroom stall. Graeme is enjoying grade 2 and we are amazed with the amount of French he is picking up. Of course I am impressed by anyone who can count to 10 in French as my grasp of the language ends with "tenir le premier rôle ce soir d'abord des canadiens de Montréal" Connor is in his second year of pre-school and is loving it. He is really ready to go to kindergarten, however, he has stated that he does not want to go to Graeme's school because all they do there is work. You know what task masters those primary teachers can be. Graeme has started hockey this year which also means I am coaching hockey. He started out a little reluctant but is really enjoying it as his skating has improved and he feels more confident about stopping. He is excited about January as he starts power skating and he likes the ideas of just skating and not having to use pucks so I guess we still have a little ways to go before we have to worry about having the next Sidney Crosby on our hands. Graeme and Connor both completed another level of swimming lessons this fall and they are both really becoming good swimmers and they sure love the water. Surprisingly, unlike their mother, they do not need the water to be 85 degrees before they get in.

We hope all of you have a great Christmas and a Happy Holidays! Know that while we not always be the best at keeping up with people we think of our friends and family often.

Love The Lewis'

Master of Educational Technology

Well, after 40 straight months of course work I am finally finished my master's program at UBC. It has been a long haul but also very interesting and rewarding. I am glad I took the route I did as the course work was of interest to me and the online environment allowed me keep some balance between school, work and family life. It will be very strange to not have any readings or assignments hanging over my head and I am sure it will take me a while to stop thinking about course work even though there isn't any. The real downside is that I guess I no longer have an excuse to put off the bathroom renovation I have been working on for a year.