Now more than ever, as we navigate the pandemic lives of remote work and emergency distance learning, the conversation about technology in education is relevant and evident.
In education, the question is not whether to use technology at all.
The question is, “How and when do we bring technology into the education experience to drive impact and create the most meaningful lessons for students?”
The question is, “How can we leverage the awesome creative power of technology to move our students away from being consumers of information towards the role of content and idea creators?”
The question is, “Which administrative, time-consuming tasks can be replaced utilizing technology so that the teacher can teach, instead of counting heads?”
The question is, “When do we employ technology to enhance collaboration and enable our students to reach a worldwide audience to share their passion?”
The question is, “Where and when do we bring subject-matter experts in virtually to teach, so that we are freed up to do the authentic work- guide the learning and how to apply the new knowledge to real situations?”
The question is, “At what age is it appropriate to introduce technology for different outcomes and specific tasks?” Pro tip on this one: 5 years old is not a good time to introduce emergency online distance learning.
BUT the question also is, “When do we put the technology away and focus on face-to-face interaction, social norms and behavior, hands-on play, healthy lifestyle choices, conflict resolution, and so many other things that we need to foster in our students and citizens?”
A little more truth: we need to ask the same questions about our work and personal lives.