The past ten weeks have flown by, with my classic procrastination causing assignments to pile up, like a cluttered mailbox I just can't find the time to go empty.
I love creating and design. I think beauty is important to life and that most people need a certain amount of to keep them going. Good design in any system is inherently beautiful, and thus I've enjoyed the projects I've created thanks to the simple and beautiful design of the Weebly blog template. I was not surprised, but pleased to learn of all the assistive devices to help ELL and SPED students. My fear with some of those is that a harried teacher already has enough on his or her plate, that learning a technology device on the fly to serve some students might not be successful, and could potentially cause more harm than good. Unless districts are willing to pay for staff to get adequate training, from the critical thinking and social skills required to navigate the interest with intelligence and grace, I can see how the wide spread use of technology in schools could hinder student success. My other critique of this immense focus on computer technology is at the end of the day tires still need to get changed on bikes and vehicles, dinner still needs cooking, diapers still need to be changed, and emotions need to be handled in patient, honest ways. All of these skills are now illustrated for us through the internet, but they do not come with the muscle strength, the stamina, or the focus that most real life tasks take. It is also heartbreaking to see again and again how CTE classes are on the fast track to extinction; there seems to be an immense pressure to jump on the fast train out to college and then on to graduate school, while the average age of a farmer in the United States is nearing 60, and last I checked we still need real food to eat: we can't eat emoji apples. The truth of the matter is that this very device I'm typing on here was made by someone who is a slave. Not once in this class did we talk about what we as educators owe to the rest of the world by engaging in creating a world that is crafted from the blood and sweat of the labors of people in communities like the Congo, and parts of South East Asia- where Apple labor rights are atrocious, and suicide is common in the factories. There is an immense cost to these devices, which seems to be missing from the conversation and support around tech levies and districts moving to one to one. Who really stands to gain from the proliferation of device use in the classroom? Google? Is there really as much concern as the socio-economic implications and class divisions associated with tech in schools as some headlines make it out to be? What do humans owe for the environmental costs of these devices? It is impossible for me to ignore this. Still, I live in the 21st century, and whether I like it or not, this technology exists, and I am glad to have some creative and thoughtful tools and resources under my belt, in which to use it well.
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