Technology in the Classroom? Dr. Merryellen Towey Schulz SEAN Spring Conference Hastings, NE February 27, 2010

Are you ready to teach him???

He will enter kindergarten in two and a half years. What will he know by then? What will he be able to do by then? What will he need to know?

Students today can’t prepare bark to calculate their problems. They depend on their slates which are more expensive. What will they do when the slate is dropped and it breaks? They will be unable to write! Teacher’s Conference 1703

Students today depend on paper too much. They don’t know how to write on a slate without getting chalk dust all over themselves. They can’t clean a slate properly. What will they do when they run out of paper? Principal’s Association 1815

Students today depend too much upon ink. They don’t know how to use a pen knife to sharpen a pencil. Pen and ink will never replace the pencil. National Association of Teachers 1907

Students today depend upon store bought ink. They don’t know how to make their own. When they run out of ink they will be unable to write words or ciphers until their next trip to the settlement. This is a sad commentary on modern education. The Rural American Teacher 1928

Students today depend on these expensive fountain pens. They can no longer write with a straight pen and nib. We parents must not allow them to wallow in such luxury to the detriment of learning how to cope in the real business world which is not so extravagant. PTA Gazette 1941

Ballpoint pens will be the ruin of education in our country. Students use these devices and then throw them away. The American values of thrift and frugality are being discarded. Business and banks will never allow such expensive luxuries. Federal Teachers 1950

Turn off and put away all Cell Phones, iPods, and Electronic Devices during class! A LOT of schools today….

Kindergarten Science Fair Project High TechLow Tech

A high-tech childhood is inadequate preparation for the real challenges of civic engagement in a high-tech democracy. We join with thoughtful parents, educators, and policymakers urging immediate action for social change on behalf of a healthy future for children and for the world they will inherit. Towards a New Literacy of Technology (2007) The Alliance of Childhood

Do not throw out the baby with the bathwater! Thinking! Understanding of the past Investigation of nature Sensory experiences Emotion and human caring Time outdoors!

What TO do….

Sort the wheat from the chaff Use the equipment Learn from students Keep up Spread the wealth

Literacies Academic Numerical Environmental Cultural Social Ethical Emotional From Jamie McKenzie McKenzie’s Competencies Inference Innovation Invention Inquiry Influence Inspiration Imagination Intuition Integrity Intention Interpretation Information Insight

Will the REAL George Washington please stand up?

Isabella Victoria

Just as Copernicus redefined astronomy by positing that the earth circles around the sun, and not the other way around, so the new educational theory suggests that the generation of knowledge must be pegged to the conditions of the learner, rather than the genius of the instructor. Carl Raschke