Prof. James Carlovsky shared iPads, Hotels, and Learning on his Twitter feed today. I think the article is worth a read, so go ahead and take a look. The real “meat” of what I enjoyed comes from the comments.
“I maintain that those of us that work at the intersection of technology and education have to be the most critical about edtech.”
In theory, that is true. In practice, I rarely see it though it is badly needed. One of the primary roles of the edtech spokespersons I see has been a form of cheerleading that often employs demands for unquestioning adherence to the dogmas proclaiming the inevitability of online displacement of all semblances of traditional pedagogy. Those of us who actually dare to question such revealed truth are often proclaimed technological blasphemers: Luddites. Welcome to the 12 Step Group for once valued educators cast into outer darkness.
Those same attitudes exist in the great technology community, not just in education. “Everything is going to be in the cloud” exclaims one without thinking through what that might actually mean for how work gets completed and, sometimes more important, what skills are now outsourced and allowed to atrophy.
I work with technology every day and I think it is a great idea to always stay skeptical.
I am worse at that than many.