Pedagogy First

I will be spending most of the day in the car on Thursday as we complete the second the leg of our trip to Memphis.  I will post this as close to midnight if not right after as possible. 

I saw an article by Heidi Hayes Jacobs titled   Against Technology (the word)

 http://edge.ascd.org/blogpost/against-technology-the-word

Here is an excerpt  from her post: 

" Ubiquitous in every sphere of education; the word “technology” is splattered loosely.    No subliminal messaging here, the term is to mean that schools with wifi, tablets, one to one laptop programs, and  smart boards are preparing students for the future.   Simply having a computer doesn’t mean that the curriculum and instruction are contemporary and relevant.    Students can be using the internet to research irrelevant and dated content. A word processor does not ensure quality writing competence.    When a group of middle school students runs around campus with flip cameras, it is unlikely they will produce a first rate documentary.    Perhaps there is some kind of magical thinking, that digital tools will prompt innovative outcomes.   I share this concern as a firmly committed advocate for the modernization of learning opportunities.    

 Most telling is our current obsession with dated assessment forms.  Teachers are not encouraged to innovate when their institutions are pushing time traveling to the past.  Although mission statements are packed with phrases like “tomorrow’s school” and “careers of the future” and “global preparedness”, the truth is that all fifty states in my country value assessments that are basically identical in format to those used thirty years ago. " 

I have had similar experiences where teachers have told me that they use technology and all they do is show a  you tube video or teachers who use the iPad instead of paper and pencil but the activity is not innovative at all. 

Technology is a tool but the pedagogy is what is the real  test of whether we are truly upgrading our curriculum and if we are truly schools of the future. 

Technology is a  great tool but it's just that a tool we can't forget that the pedagogy comes first and is the key in creating the students and schools that we want and need to educate the future leaders of tomorrow .