Teachnology

The opinions of these various speakers are all very strong in nature; Stephen Downes, Howard Gardner, Alfie Kohn, and Gary Stager explain their views on the direction that educational reform should adopt.  You can literally hear the passion in their voices as they grasp for the next word.  They care about education. They care enough about the meaningful and positive direction of children's' education to put together this video outlining their views that they have obviously been molding for decades.
As they each take their turns repeatedly and, may I repeat, passionately expressing their concerns and ideas for current and future education.  Many of the things said during this computer conference were very eyebrow-raising and I would like to share some of my thoughts on the talk.
The standardized test was said to "matter the least" at one point during the conversation, which got me thinking about what he would say next.  We all know that these measurements pertain largely to content area knowledge which at times can be quite arbitrary.  So we can then switch to the things that are measurable by these tests and many other assessments that occur naturally in the classroom that encourages curiosity, caring, and deep meaning.  We do not, however, need to assess and quantify all of these transient qualities that can not be defined by a number.  Competition can stunt the creative juices that flow naturally in our minds as we make sense out of the world around us.  Competition can also provide a spark to the fire that ignites an idea capable of bringing about wonderful things.  The trick then is to leave that which is not quantifiable and in need of a good, healthy competition aside from this rat race that so often sucks the fun out of classrooms and children's minds.
We can foster self-efficacy, critical thinking, and self-expression in a way that was not possible before.  We have ideas, frameworks, and technology that make possible a large array of possibilities in the classroom.  We can always do better and raise our voices so that we end up coming together in order to create community and make education a beautiful word.
Though technology can take voices away from students and teachers by dominating the classroom through the sheer possibilities available that it can provide, there lies the idea that a class room could be completely stripped of technology or utterly technology-laden; it matters most what you do with what you have.  Create the most out of you classroom by creating the most out of your students and self.  The focus should be placed back upon the community that can be created through student, teacher and technology.  We have some lovely tools, let us use them. But most of all, let us maintain our love of education, for may it provide us with the fire to speak up and support that which we are truly passionate about.