I spent this past weekend with my family on beautiful Big Stone Lake in western Minnesota. We always engage in the same activities of exercising, relaxing, fishing (hunting in the fall), sitting by the bonfire and talking about education and sports. Dad was a teacher, mom grew up as a teacher's child, my aunt was a teacher, both dad and brother were coaches, and of course, I was a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent. Consider all of this and one can understand our passion for conversations around the bonfire that always come back to education.
This past weekend was no exception. I am seen as the one messed up child addicted to social networking and learning with my laptop with me (it annoys the heck out of my brother and for some reason, I take joy in that). Mom finally said to me, "Don't you think that kids now days are missing out on real communications and relationships that are enhanced by getting outside and playing with each other rather than sitting in front of Facebook?" She's right in that we have to continue to push kids to play hard and engage in physical activities that force critical thinking, communication and conflict resolution.
It's almost sad that Facebook has come to be a term that angers and frustrates some much like text messaging. My reply was pretty candid after thinking that she was just upset at me for being on my computer again. I said, "Social networking is connecting kids from the across the classroom and across the globe." We must learn to take advantage of the way students want to communicate by integrating technology with instruction and recognizing that social networking can be a tool to engage the learner.
It was just a few minutes ago that I read this article (http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/06/28/survey-reveals-factors-in-ed-tech-success/) in eSchool News, and yes mom, I read it digitally with out flipping through pages, and I still learned. Did you know that students’ achievement scores on high-stakes tests have been on the rise, and among schools with 1-to-1 computing programs, that figure dramatically goes up. Hey, if we employ best practice strategies for success, including electronic assessments on a regular basis and frequent collaboration of teachers in professional learning communities, we will continue to see the benefits of technology.
I encourage all to continue reading about the advancements of technology and the impact it has on student achievement. Then, get ready, the mobile education technology boom is just in its infancy. These next few years will be incredible as we see students advance via technology integrated correctly with the result being highly educated students who are more creative, more intellectual and globally connected.
