As I am getting ready to introduce Scratch to teachers tomorrow, I’ve been trying to come up with some ways to express my feelings on the subject of students using technology to make things vs. teachers using technology to teach things.  I stumbled upon this blog post today (ah, serendipity) by Paul Bogush, and it really hits the nail on the head.

Technology is not the answer to the problems facing the educational system.  When it is placed in the hands of traditional teachers in an average school it reinforces the institution.  Spending $4000 in that type of school on a Smartboard will just stunningly reinforce a unit that has no concept, no goals, no connection to the kids life, and is not authentic, problem based, or performance based.  Moving to 1:1 laptops will improve teaching, it just won’t improve student learning.   It is not about what kids are doing or what is being done to them, it’s about what they are making and creating.  It is not the “answer” to why my kids leave at the end of the year ready to build a better future.

Read more of Dear Administrator,

Something he said really stood out to me.  “Technology is just tool. If you give a tool chest to someone who can’t build a house, they are still not going to be able to build a house.”  So, if any of you teachers from Tech Camp are reading this, here is why I think this applies.  Scratch is an amazing tool for creation, but if you don’t put time into getting to know the program and guiding the kids to get a good grasp on it, Scratch will just be another “neat” program you’ve glazed.  Likewise, think about the opportunities in your classroom that you give your students to create and invent and find new ways of thinking–without technology.  Then, imagnine Scratch can be an amplifier for these creative opportunities.  The Scratch website has a motto: Imagine-Program-Share.  Imagine is something students should be doing in your classroom regardless of technology.  Scratch, through the programming and sharing, gives a technology oriented path to solving problems and creating things that kids imagine.

Mitchell Resnick, director of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at MIT’s Media Lab, the group behind Scratch, talked in a similar vein in an Edutopia article:

Underlying traditional kindergarten activities is a spiraling learning process in which children imagine what they want to do, create a project based on their ideas (using blocks, finger paint, or other materials), play with their creations, share their ideas and creations with others, and reflect on their experiences — all of which leads them to imagine new ideas and new projects. This iterative learning process is ideal preparation for today’s fast-changing society, in which people must continually come up with innovative solutions to unexpected situations in their lives.

Read the complete article, Kindergarten is the Model for Lifelong Learning

If you notice, only one of the six NETS for students addresses technology operations and concepts.  The rest are all about using those basic skills to produce though critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, innovation, collaboration, etc.

So, contemplate your role as a teacher.  Tech Camp has been a blur of “use this” and “check this out” sessions, but ultimately, who should all this technology be for?  The students.  Give it to them.  Mold your creative, thought-provoking, and deep project work with it.  Let the students create.