Like an alkie's or druggie's worst nightmare, the worst possible attack on an addiction happened yesterday at work. The cyber power WENT OUT! Yes, the entire Internet system went down for the whole school district in Las Vegas! All 600 something square miles of tech-dependent education were forced to rely on...gulp...TEACHING SKILLS!
And was I exhausted! I actually had to do something so demonic and 20th Century as work directly with my kids using my long dormant teaching skills...and did it feel great!Well, there was one tech involvement but it wasn't using the Internet, it was projecting a quiz we were doing.
I've been doing this for 22 school years now, and I have to say the first ten years were pretty techless in terms of actual teaching. Sure, we had overhead projectors,but we did a lot of board writing, too. The kids used books to read and books to practice math and books to read about social studies and science. Only in the past few years did the tech not only become a part of teaching and learning...it became a REQUIREMENT! Independent reading and math practice were put into computer apps instead of old fashioned learning centers we used to put together.
In that sense, yesterday's service break was welcome. I had to think on my feet to get stuff going with my kids. We had fun. I could do it again, but I suspect our district will not let such human engagement continue.
How in the world did we get to this point of such tech addiction and dependence in the field of education?
**READER BEWARE!! IF YOU EXPERIENCE ALLERGIES TO MOORE TRIPS DOWN AMNESIA LANE, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM**
In the 1983-84 school year at Whitfield Elementary School, we were introduced to an Apple 2 computer and a typing program that taught us the basics of a keyboard. It even had a little game where we could use the arrow keys to direct a mouse to a piece of cheese! There was no touchscreen, no mouse. Just a keyboard. It was not part of our general education, more of an occasional tool to use if we wanted to type something.
You want to know what technological advancement really got our attention? A TV rolled in on a cart to watch a space shuttle launch or Presidential inauguration. Films on a movie projector and film strips that had accompanying tapes were used often as well. Any audio visual opportunity to learn was welcomed.
But the teacher was the main educator always.
And shame on me, I started a sentence with butt, it's my blog, I don't care.
We played when we got to school before the bell rang, we played at morning recess, we played at recess after eating lunch.
We ate using plates and real utensils on a tray. If we dropped it on the floor, we were humiliated by a cacophany of OOOHS from all in the multi purpose room.
We used books for ever subject: language, spelling, social studies, science, and health. Reading was not a grade, as it was developmental. The only standardized test was the Iowa Test of Basic Skills given early in the school year. As far as I know, those tests didn't penalize teachers. Those were the good old Scantron tests were you wanted a good dull pencil point to fill in the rectangular bubble.
Above all, the teacher reigned as main educator.
Even in junior high and high school, this remained so.
***AMNESIA LANE ENDED. YOU CAN READ ON NOW***
What happened?
Cell phones and tablets more powerful than most home computers created a new addiction we can't seem to escape from. Educators in the form of think tanks who never spent quality time in classrooms likely decided to feed into this tech need created at home.
Soon, I suspect, kids will be given phones at school to zone out.
I hope not, for the role of the teacher will then be relegated to babysitter.
Then again, perfect: at a rate of $10 per hour per kid, at 25 kids...$250 per hour times 6 times 5 is $7,500. Multiply that by 36 weeks is $270,000.
As an alternative, let that Internet server and Wi Fi be on a permanent break, we can adapt. I'm sure we can.
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