Something For Art

As I was reading Marc Prensky’s articles, I noted that much of what he said is nothing really new, or rather over the past decade, his ideas have been echoed by like-minded educators who have long been rallying for a technological revolution in education. So much has been said, but apparently we have yet to experience that big leap forward…this is the general impression that I get from my readings. As Prensky aptly put it, “The biggest question about technology and schools in the twenty-first century is not so much What can it do? but, rather, When will it get to do it?”

In Adopt and Adapt, Prensky examined the four steps in which schools typically take to adopt new technologies: 1) Dabbling. 2) Doing old things in old ways. 3) Doing old things in new ways. 4) Doing new things in new ways. I suspect that there are many (like me) who are still at Step 2, gathering courage to embark on a Step 3 journey. So what’s holding us back?

It could be the two barriers that Prensky talked about: Technological and Social. Or it could be the very fact that there is a lot which we, educators, need to unlearn before we could even get to learn new things. Like what Will Richardson wrote in his blog, this may be a “Steep Unlearning Curve” for some of us. I would recommend this 2 readings for the significant thoughts they offer.