Taking A Step Back And Thinking Critically About Technology

I am probably going to take a lot of heat for this post. But maybe that's a good thing. Perhaps more conversation is needed...


I remember where I was when I heard the iPad announced. I was sitting in my office when I was still working at a school. I had the live blog from Techcrunch on one screen and Twitter on the other. Tweets were flying by with all sorts of comments about the name (both good and bad) and what the device could do. I admit. I had to have one. I was in love. Not long after the announcement I had one and at that time it was all I hoped for. This was going to replace my laptop. I was going to be super productive and only have to carry my iPad.

And I did just that to my first conference. But by the end of the weekend I was frustrated. I couldn't move through programs as fluidly as I hoped. It was a little difficult to take quick notes. I chalked it up to being new and the fact I was still learning.

As time went by my iPad went from being a productivity tool to a consumption tool. Reading blogs and articles,  checking Tweets when I was away from a computer and playing games. My 2 year old was the same way. While she wasn't reading blogs or sending Tweets she was learning letters and making matches.

Sure, I thought, there is a real advantage here for a child to learn with with this tool. It's pretty engaging. Its flashy (pardon the pun). And its was around the same time that many schools saw the iPad as "The Device." It happened in my district too. We got several requests less than 3 months out of the box to buy some.

This is a trend that continues to grow and grow and grow. And frankly it's a little frightening to me. A lot of schools have put all their eggs in the iPad basket or hope to put them there. When maybe we should be slowing down and thinking about what we are doing.

No doubt the tablet trend is on the rise and will continue to rise. I have 2 of them. Lots of the folks reading this post might be doing it on a tablet. I forsee a future classroom that has tablets as one tool for kids to use but this jump to replace or forgo purchases of laptops or desktops for tablets instead has me a bit concerned.

I was recently reading over some proposals for a project to give grant money to classrooms. Of the 20 or so I read 18 of them involved wanting iPads. Not tablets, but specifically the iPad. Many were wanting iPads to say they had iPads. What they wanted to do would not have been more enhanced through the use of the iPad and frankly more money could have been spent putting a netbook or even laptop or Chromebook in the hands of more kids than buying a few iPads.

There are lots of great programs out there that demonstrate these devices do have a positive impact on the classroom and learning. Look at Patrick Larkin at Burlington High School or Kelly Tenkely and her school in Colorado. 2 great examples of doing it right. They thought about it, talked about it, investigated it, and most importantly, worked tirelessly on PD so that it works.

And now there is a large push for digital texts because of the release of the iBooks author that will allow anyone to make their own book. I was online for that announcement too and, like the first iPad announcement there were the voices that said this was the ultimate. Finally textbooks are in control of the teacher. (When the first 5 available for sale were from one of the major textbook manufactures in the world.) But, you had to have a Mac, oh and you had to have a pretty recent version of the OS. Oh and you had to have the iPad to get the end product. So the 57,000 students in my district are locked out of those because we don't use Apple products. I can't even build one if I wanted too.

Look, the iPad here is just an example. I am not anti-iPad or anti-Apple. (Quite the contrary. I have written loads of posts and have lots of resources for apps and how to get the most out of these devices for learning.) I think they can do wonders to help engage kids. Like I said, I have seen it with my own daughter. My concern, as it is with any technology is buying something because it is new or flashy or has the perception to make change.

Technology exclusively can't change learning. You can't put 30 iPads (or Chromebooks, laptops, IWB, or whatever type of technology you can think of) in a classroom and in an instant learning gets better. It just does not happen that way. It takes a lot of stepping back, looking at the why's and the how's and deciding on the direction to go. And even before devices hit the hands of kids, there has to be lots and lots and lots of PD on how access to these tools in the classroom changes the way we teach.

Lets just slow down, and think, is buying this the best decision for me? Or for my students?

 photo credit: waferbaby via photopin cc

What's Wrong With Google Telling Me Everything?

The topic of Critical Thinking and Google Searches seems to poke it's head out via various discussions and conversations every now and then. Even on #edchat last night the topic centered around moving kids away from thinking Google has all the answers to thinking critically.

First let me clarify. I use the term Google Searches loosely. That has come to mean all searches but there are obviously other search engines out there (Like Bing and Yahoo) that are still relevant and used in schools. But by far, Google is the most popular search engine around.

So my question is, what's wrong with the fact that Google is able to tell me everything I need to know?

I am having trouble remembering what I did before search online. I imagine it involved a trip to my local library (which I still enjoy doing) and spending hours and hours of research to find the simplest of facts or answers. I still remember using a card catalog, pulling out the long drawer of dusty and musty 3x5 cards, in an attempt to find the population of New Zealand in 1975.

So what would have taken 5 minutes of searching, now takes seconds. Granted, it doesn't seem like all that much but still, when doing massive amounts of research, spending time in search engine land is a life saver, travel saver, money saver, etc. I use search everyday for all sorts of things. And Google searches especially because of the shortcuts that are available.

So I ask whats wrong with Google (or any other search engine) telling me the answers I seek?

The argument seems to be, in the classroom, that if a question is asked that Google can answer, then there is something wrong with the question. I'm not so sure about that. Yes, I want students to be at the top of Blooms Taxonomy and be evaluators and creators. But having some factual knowledge is important too.

I don't think there is anything wrong with asking questions search engines can answer. After all that is what they are there for. What is wrong is when the question is the end of the lesson. And often times it is. Lessons will end with the facts when really that is just a beginning. If we are asking questions of kids that search engines can answer and not asking them to think about the quality of the information or where that information comes from then why bother?

Any Joe on the street can type some words into a search box and get results. But, we are headed down a road where we are graduating groups of students who don't think critically about the information they receive (and who think The Onion has real news.)

Sure we need to spend time teaching kids on how to do quality searches, using key terms and wildcards. But that is a lesson over a day or two. What needs to be woven into our curriculum is what Howard Rheingold calls Crap Detection. The premise is that even adults have a very difficult time filtering out the junk of what is online. So if adults are having a hard time how can we be teaching critical thinking to kids? It's ok for kids to get their information online and from search engines but if we are not having longer conversations about the evaluation of the resources we are using then we are just reinforcing what people already believe; that is we simply cramming facts into the brains of our students.

Need an example of fact checking? Check out this website about Explorers.The first time I saw it, I will admit, I was fooled. I thought it was a great site for information about Explorers. I sent it to a teacher without looking at the entire site and comparing the information found there to other sources. Only later did I find out that it was set up to teach kids (and people like me) about fact checking and critical thinking on the web.

So if we are asking questions that Google or any other search engine can answer, that's cool with me. But, if we aren't taking the next steps and having kids explain the choices of the sources of our information then we aren't moving up Blooms, which is what we should be doing. Check out a wiki Howard set up about Critical Thinking that is full of great information how to teach it, understand it and use it. And you can use this guide from Microsoft that aims to help kids improve their search skills and gives some lessons to use in the classroom.

What do you think? Is it wrong for Google to be able to tell us everything? How do you teach critical thinking about web resources in your classroom. Leave some ideas below.

Image from Ari on Flickr CC