As I sat down to write this posting I couldn’t decide whether to point towards the promise of the future with a posting about all the exciting news around the interactive Higher_Ed textbooks being delivered by a start up called Inkling or to point towards the same old same old from the past and present about how today’s teachers are so underprepared to integrate technology in the classroom.
The Inkling story has hit my desk from a variety of sources, some of which have been sent and resent to me a number of times. The technology is perfect for the iPad and they have built what appears to be a solid relationship with McGraw-Hill on the content side. Deals with Wiley and Gengage are also in place and titles are on the way.
The unprepared teacher story was sent to me by a guy I know well and respect even more who has a tremendous grasp on the problems facing America’s classroom. The story itself is not really news since we have long been committing the double-foul of 1) mindlessly spending on technology in schools just for the sake of having some and 2) not doing anything to help the teacher understand the implications of the technology or even how to effectively use technology in an educational setting. The item that was sent is a posting from over the summer by Geoff Fletcher that is a lament on the TWENTY YEARS that have gone by, with very little progress, on this problem.
Those of you that know me realize that I would typically go for the positive Inkling story and all the hope and promise that it holds. Those of you that know me well realize that with school starting (already started in many states) soon, I just couldn’t let the unprepared teacher story go by without comment.
So to paraphrase the words of Dickens, these are the best of times and the worst of times.
Never before in human history have there been so much talent and so much technology available to truly create unique and compelling learning products and learning environments. A week does not go by without a new and interesting piece of content usage hitting my inbox. It is truly amazing and rewarding to spend time each week working with the people who are making all these things happen.
Never before in American educational history have there been so many challenges and so little real support for the front lines of the classroom. Our schools and our teachers are dramatically underfunded and underappreciated. They are asked to perform under tremendous pressure without any clear guidance for what a good job looks like and even less professional development on how to go about accomplishing the tasks at hand.
This is not a ringing endorsement of all things technical and new. Nor is this a condemnation of our schools and school boards.
This is a call to action for anyone and everyone to start doing something about these conflicting story lines. If you are on the technology side, spend some serious time with regular teachers trying to understand how education actually happens. A good buddy of mine says “Curriculum is what happens when you close the classroom door”. Use your imagination, your creativity, and some of that funding to make a real and meaningful difference in how a child learns. Making products and money is important. I get that. We all have to eat. Making a positive impact on the lives of children is way more important. I think we could all eat a little less to make that kind of difference in the world. Profits might suffer a little. Shareholders might get angry. The children have to matter more.
If you are a member of the educational side of the equation, spend some more time learning about how to connect with your students through the technologies that matter in the rest of their lives when they are not in your school. You already work hard for your money. I get that. You are already doing lesson plans and grading papers at home. I get that too. Unfortunately, the children still need more from you. Pick a tool, learn it well, and integrate it into your instruction. Share what you are doing with others. This year’s students can’t wait until you have more time or until the district will give you an in-service day.
All of you please take a few minutes and think about this and then do what your heart tells you to do.
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Sep 09 2010 (10:09 AM) by Kevin Polk
I am increasingly of the opinion that it is too late to be chasing the print => digital unicorn. The world is already on to something else. Meet the post-text world.
1. First, the mission was to move printed material into an electronic form.
2. Second, the mission became to enliven content with interactive and multimedia elements.
3. Third, well I think we're entering the time of the "third phase." And that is probably the most disruptive shift of all: moving beyond the printed word.
"Reading" is one way that one can consume information. It happens to have been the predominant method because that is what was technically possible. You could print paper with words on it and for a period of time, that was all you could do technically. But now you can do other things. Content can be presented in many other ways, ranging from simply using audio and video, to making it interactive in familiar ways or probably soon in immersive/3D ways.
The point being: Text/words/print were a function of an intersection of time and capability. And the lifecycle of that intersection has ended. There is nothing sacred about "the book" or printing or learning from explication in text.
Where learning will go - not could or should go, but will go - is entirely away from content resembling what has been traditionally used. Even a "technology infused" variant of that is in the process of becoming passe. There will soon arise an entirely new form of education content that is based on new modalities, technologies, and pedagogical principles.
If I was a book publisher... I would be trying to figure out how to become masterful in the conceptualization, production, and distribution of such new content.
The central issue should be: What is the most effective way to learn? The central issue is not: How do I protect my company from disintermediation in the face of the trend towards digital. Successfully taking on the former topic will effectively address the latter topic, btw. I tend to doubt that many companies will make the adjustment successfully. "Okay, everything you mastered to be a successful print publisher, forget all that and become a completely different kind of company." That's a tall order. There's a reason that many great radio actors never became successful TV actors. The game changed, it didn't simply "evolve."
"Going Digital" has an entirely new meaning circa late 2010. It seems highly likely that a new generation of content providers will rise to prominence over the next 10 years. Companies who are retooling their existing publishing business to be "digital" are on the wrong trail. That's a worthwhile activity to respond to market trends. But let's face it, a huge majority of digital learning products are boring and of poor quality. And certainly they are not keeping pace with the rate at which kids are absorbing, applying, and driving technology.
In my humble opinion.
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