Milobo’s Musings

Technology is Hard. That’s the mantra that keeps many teachers from reaching out and really exploring technology tools in their classroom.  It’s hard to manage 30 students when they all have a laptop in hand. It’s hard to integrate it meaningfully because the activities need to have structure and guidance to be successful. It’s hard to step aside and hope that your goals are met when you no longer are on center stage in the front of the room.

This week, Mathew Needleman’s post entitled “Five Reasons Why We Aren’t Integrating Technology in School” listed the reasons technology often isn’t incorporated into the learning cycle. It’s a good list and one that will resonate with many technology coaches, teachers, and administrators.  But like any list of reasons, it could quickly become a list of excuses that lead down the road to inaction.  Matthew asked for solutions to his reasons and I know there are great ones out there, but I’m going to take a different turn.  I’d like to turn the tables and use his list to rationalize why we should stop using textbooks in the classroom.  I’ve already argued previously about the dangers of allowing students unfiltered access to paper.  This seemed like a natural follow-up…

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