Online World? (online teaching- 629)

Some fear that our entire world will soon be online, run by robots, and humans will be fed knowledge and skills through implanted microchips. While this is not likely to occur, the current shift towards computer-based learning is causing trepidation amongst the traditionalists. I have contributed to these fears in my own practices. As a high school teacher I used Moodle to conduct online assessments and extend my classroom resources beyond the school day with student forums. Though I never did any blended learning (some days face to face and some online), I see many benefits to that arrangement and wish I could have tried it as a classroom teacher. I'd also enjoy the opportunity to do something entirely online.

Recently, I have been involved in conducting mostly online PD courses for Kent County districts. The courses generally start with an introduction session, and the rest of the learning is done in Moodle, monitored by myself and other course administrators. One focused on an introduction to Common Core and UDL, and I am about to start one that focuses on using ed. tech. to reach all learners (bringing special ed. and general ed. together). We use Moodle partly because it is free and partly because of its versatility as an LMS. The courses are quite successful, and we receive predominantly positive feedback from participants. Some users struggle because of low technology skills and unfamiliarity with Moodle. For those students, we have provided workshop sessions and tried to incorporate more experienced users in helping their colleagues. That has worked quite well, and now that I think about it, those are strategies that could be effective in other online courses. Teachers could provide voluntary face to face sessions and arrange for tutoring for struggling students. As long as it's not robots, right?

A Walking Paradox

Lately I have been feeling like a torn man, a traveling contradiction, a vessel sailing in two worlds at once. In my new position (ed. tech. consultant), I am almost always on a computer or using, viewing, discussing some kind of technological gadget, and at the same time my soul, heart, spirit yearn to be casting flies to hungry steelhead in a quick stream or wandering the autumn woods with a tent and a sense of adventure. I have embraced both sides trying to adjust to the dramatic shifts that are occurring. I admire the potential and possibilities that exist within the incredible tools that are rapidly developing, and I pursued ed. tech. as a professional path because I want to play an active role in its progress.
Enter the other half of my being: the nature-bound romantic. Throughout much of my life I have favored trails and wilderness over cell phones and cities. I have devoted much to relationships, to hand-written letters, and to warm expressions of friendship. My daydreams consist of mountain back-packing and long canoe rides. I relish in and cherish people and the wild, and I pursue intimate experiences with them. As we see more kids with smart phones at age 10, there's a very real and present danger of nature and relationships being reduced to something trivial or cheap- something experienced on a screen.
As a new father and as a technologist in education, I feel compelled to raise up both worlds; to enhance the digital with compassion and interaction; to encourage times of electronic-less exploration; to find ways to preserve the finest qualities of all sides while thwarting the cold, heartless elements. This will be no easy task. It's time for a walk in the woods.