Losing My Laptop and Returning Time to the Classroom

I work in technology, I thrive on technology and more importantly I depend on technology.  I recently had a hard drive crash on my laptop and lost my operating system.  I actually back things up, so I didn’t lose my important documents and items critical to my existence and work functions.

I tried to reinstall Windows but could never get it to boot up and had to get a new hard drive and Windows image.  While I was waiting on that to happen, I installed a Linux image that my company is developing.  With a little trial and error here and there, I managed to get the Linux image installed and up and running.  Everything worked OK for the most part, but I couldn’t get many of my critical needs satisfied for a variety of reasons.

I learned a couple of lessons during this time:

1. Linux and Open Source are not ready for prime time.  By prime time, I mean the average Joe.


2. For all of this talk about Windows and monopoly and poor product development, it functions like it is supposed to the majority of the time I am using it.  That is worth more money to me.


3. There are times when I need to put away my technology for a little while and get back to old fashioned ways.

It is point #3 that I want to talk about.  I am in Education sales for the K-12 market.  I found out that I was not going to die without my laptop.  And then this morning, I read this article on Wired today: The Dark Underbelly of Technology.  Tony Long talks about how technology was supposed to make our lives easier, but instead it seems to make us work more.  Take me as an example of the ever connected, ever working person.  I have a Blackberry cell phone and PDA, I have a laptop with wireless, I have a Wi-Fi card for my laptop and I have a Bluetooth earpiece.  There isn’t anytime during the day that I can’t get connected to the Internet in one way or another.  There also isn’t anytime during the day that someone can’t get in touch with me. Having the earpiece allows me to work while doing other things, like washing dishes, and the mute is a powerful function.  I have washed a lot of clothes and done a great deal of cleaning house during conference calls.

Where I am heading with this is that technology is a tool, not a replacement.  It can’t replace good old fashioned teaching.  The greatest impact on student achievement occurs in the classroom. Technology purchases that apply to and/or affect teachers should fill these basic requisites:

1. They should return time to the classroom by reducing administrative tasks and making a teacher’s life easier


2. They should enable, enhance or assist the instructional process, not replace it or parts of it.


3. Professional development must accompany the new technology to enable the teacher to fully use the technology to accomplish 1 and 2 above.

Don’t get squashed by the dark underbelly of technology.  Make sensible choices that support the classroom teacher and don’t buy the next generation product if it can’t demonstrate positive results that return time to the classroom and help teachers.

And every now and then, put down your technology and go the old fashioned way.  It can be refreshing and release creativity that was held back by dependency on technology…..