Pioneering Into the Unknown with Exciting but Useless Tools

I consider myself a digital pioneer, but let me explain. The teachers that showed me how to use the Commodore Pet in elementary school were digital pioneers. The teachers that taught me how to use Bank Street Writer on the Commodore 64 to replace the typewriters that prior classes had used were digital pioneers. The teachers in high school that showed us how to use the Apple IIc were digital pioneers, and the college professors that showed us how to use the Internet to perform effective research were digital pioneers.

Pioneers are termed as "a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others." While the Internet is certainly not new nor is technology as a whole, the ever-changing digital landscape would support the fact that as each of us enter "technology" in a different place, time, capacity and goal. It is for that reason that I consider us each pioneers to some level.

So here I am doing my best techno-Lewis and Clark exploration of applications that I can use. I am very comfortable with blogging, and I very much enjoy using it with my students. This year has afforded me the opportunity to use our class wiki in a very constructive way. Last year I tried to find a spot in my curriculum for it, but now we are using it to build a true research based knowledge base. I will be exploring digital video again, but who knows where this new class will lead me. I am thinking that we will be doing some very cool things based on their interest and enthusiasm.

What does the title mean? Well, I have been exploring applications and gadgets since the beginning of the school year, and they usually fall into one of the following categories:

1) Useless and boring
2) Engaging but cumbersome
3) Engaging but disconnected from curriculum
4) Engaging and connected to curriculum

In my quest to find 4s, I have found a few 1s, a good amount of 2s, but a whole lot of 3s. Just try a Google search for something like "technology in education" or "web 2.0 in education" and you will soon be overwhelmed with a ton of leads. It can be disenchanting when you find something that makes you think "Wow! My kids would love to see this!" but when it comes down to it, it might not be developmentally or skill level appropriate for them to actually have them learn, apply and create from, so you end up with teacher created entertainment materials that might not even be connected to curriculum. That is not (in my opinion) appropriate or effective use of technology. That's why I don't like to see educators using technology just for the sake of using technology. Add in the constraints of the school year time limit, the reality of state assessments, district mandates and student learning styles, and you can imagine how immense the challenge is.

I don't know where the answer lies, and I am not sure how to really find examples of #4 without searching on and on. It's too bad that we couldn't find a digital Sacajewah to show us the way.