Holy Cow!

Today I was perusing my Google Reader, catching up from the past couple of days... and then it hit me, HOLY COW!

I had just watched a YouTube video on a post from Richard Byrne over at Free Tech for Teachers. (If you're not hooked into his RSS feed you are missing out!) The video came by way of another amazing edtech @AngelaMaiers. Before we continue, I must implore you to take the next 4 minutes and 25 seconds to view this vid... then commence reading this blog post.



Holy cow! Right? I mean, I have seen the Shift Happens vids, but this hit home more. We are missing out on a "teachable moment" with our students by way of social media. I have addressed this topic more and more recently. Maybe it has been part out of frustration, but I believe it is mainly about my belief in instructional technology that enhances our teaching.

Byrne points out in his post something he too has addressed prior... we are cheating these students by banning the technologies that they use the most. I mean it would be the equivalent of banning Suzie's pen and pencil back in the 1950s. That was an essential form of communication back then. Today though, we have banned all methods of communication that our students use on a daily, hourly, minutely (*not a word) basis. Schools are eliminating these tools, instead of teaching responsible use.

We wonder why our students do not email? The answer is simple. We never taught them how to. Schools did not embrace the email fad, now our students are void of this skill. Schools need to adapt their policies, and us our methods as we meet our students and collaborate with them in using these technologies that are changing the way they we "do" our lives.

Holy cow!

More to come...

Mike Meechin, M. Ed.
mike.meechin@gmail.com
twitter.com/innovateed

New Look!

Well the time has come for an overhaul of the Innovate Education blog. This is the first step in preparation to launching a few professional development workshops this summer. This will officially begin my trek into the world of educational consulting (part-time, of course).

It is an exciting time for me. I am looking forward to sharing even more of my ideas and experiences with all of those who read this blog. We are excited about our new look and even more excited about what is still yet to come.

Any advice to those in the field will be welcomed. Thanks.

More to come...

Mike Meechin, M. Ed.
mike.meechin@gmail.com
twitter.com/innovateed

Censorcation!

Nick Sauer recently posted a piece on his blog 1:1 Schools, asking a basic, but important question:

"How can we trust our teachers with our students, but not the Internet?"

Sauer's post really made me reflect on my own situation and the battles that a few of us have been fighting with the district. In my county and school we practice what I call Censorcation, with regards to Web 2.0 technologies. It really is a censorship that China would be proud of.

Let's see, gone are Facebook, GoogleDocs, Gmail, Google Chrome, Flickr, Google Images, Yahoo! Images, Twitterfall... and many, many more.

We are so afraid to let our students use these technologies in the classroom. However, the students are not the issue (well a few are). But rather, administrators and districts alike must hold educators and students accountable for their actions and abuses of the Acceptable Use Policies. Some educators get a laptop cart and just pass out the computers... with no structure, no lesson. Well, of course there are going to be abuses of the Internet. Is the problem the Internet, or the teachers who does a disservice to his/her students, with or without technology?

It is frustrating, especially after answering the call of educators such as those at TeachPaperless, of going paperless in the classroom. We cannot block the world through Censorcation from our students. Those who misuse these powerful learning tools (teacher or student) must be held accountable.

But most important... don't penalize the masses because of the actions of the few. Pretty please.

More to come...

Mike Meechin, M. Ed.
mike.meechin@gmail.com
twitter.com/innovateed