Will Richardson doesn’t post as much has be used to, but when he does it really makes you sit up and take notice. He recently took part in a conference call with a senator. Here is a wee extract, but you can read all of what he had to say here:
Silence. I jump in (what the heck.) I’m a 21-year pub school educator and have been writing about this stuff for six years on my blog, I say. He says well you know more than I do about this stuff and chuckles. I say look, no real question here just two points. (My 90 second conference call pitch…been working on it.) First, in a world where we can learn anything, anywhere, anytime, we need every kid connected to the Internet. Second, we’re going to be throwing good money after bad on all this if we don’t start having a conversation about learning, not more content and skills. (It was a little better than that, I think.) Great points, he says. (A pattern is emerging.) Says the problem is that we’re not spending enough money on professional development (huh?) and that our teachers don’t know the technology.
This got me thinking – well, about a few things really.
1) those of us that blog about using technology in education at its benefits, blah, blah, blah – aren’t speaking to the right people.
2) here in Scotland we are about to have a national intranet in education ‘connecting everbody’ which is missing the two most vital components in my opinion – connectivity and hardware. Before anyone comments, I know this wasn’t part of the remit, but having the capacity is largely pointless, if, there are a huge number without the means to access it – all we highlight is the digital divide. And no, 15 minutes grabbed in the library at lunchtime is not the same as having your own machine wirelessly connected whenever (and wherever) you like.
3) For those of you that might get the opportunity for a ‘conference call’ with Jack McConnell or Hugh Henry, what would your 90 seconds pitch say?
I’ll start it off – free state provided wireless access anywhere, government sponsored affordable hardware, everyone being taught digital literacy and a ‘zero tollerance’ approach to indiscipline. This may be expensive, but I’m sure the ÂŁ15-20 billion on Trident could go a long way here.
And ‘Nik‘ (unlike many in the world of ICT and blogging, I welcome any ‘anonymous’ comment), this one will probably get no comments either…
