Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Just Dig the Hole

Image Credit: https://flic.kr/p/eKncW8
Have you ever planted a tree in your backyard? Not just any tree, but one that will grow up to provide hours of relaxing in the shade, laying on your back. One that you can tie a rope on and push your kids so high they are almost upside down. A tree that you can say in 50 years that you planted the same year your first son was born. This type of tree takes careful planning, the precise location in the yard must fit all the variable of sun, wind, shade......not to close to the house, but not too far away. Sometimes you might watch all 4 seasons go by to calculate and contemplate its exact location before you start to dig.....

Working in education and technology today requires the same type of planning, but the timeline to implementation is measured in days not years. We drag our feet trying to decide if we should put in another computer lab, or get a rolling cart, while the reality is both of those options are from "days gone by". We now try and figure out how we can support a 1:1 program, and if we time it right, wait long enough, keep asking the same questions because we hide behind old data based on the assumption that our students don't have the Internet, 1:1 will be history too, replaced by students that can BYOD.
We need to move, take action, implement technology today that will help our students do real-time work, personalize their learning, and give them anywhere, anytime access to educational content. Sometimes I feel like we are afraid to fail, purchase the wrong technology, or make the wrong decision. When in reality Failing Fast, so we can Succeed Faster is a much better place to live. Let's move forward....Just Dig the Hole.

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