It is not necessary to jump on the digital bandwagon. [But] It is dangerous, disempowering, and self-limiting to stick our heads in the sand and pretend
it will all go away if we don’t look (Nardi & O'Day, 1999, p. 23).
It seems to me that the quote above captures a dilemma of public education in terms of using technology.. Must it be either/or, dystopian or utopian? Teachers are polarized in some settings. Is the seaweed always greener, in somebody else’s lake? (Little Mermaid) For those of us who plan a career in facilitating community-building for professional development of teachers, understanding the dynamic represented here is very crucial. Teacher understanding and acceptance of Web 2.0 as an ecology rather than a tool will ease the transition of the teacher fearful to step into the deep waters of the Web and temper the pressure of the tech groups on teachers to capture and examine every new species that swims along.
That Nardi and O'Day propose a more "middle of the road approach" is an important lesson for me. Too often emotional fisherwomen such as myself push on students and others to snag new varieties of educational innovation before really understanding the effect on the entire ecosystem.. I often cause resistance in my approach or cause some people tangle in my nets . I have much to learn as a change agent, as it were.(Duh) As a professional 'developer’, an holistic, ecological approach to technological change where I can find "points of leverage to influence the direction and impact of the change" (p.23) might create more acceptable , and therefore sustainable, conditions for change.
Sustainability is a term that applies most often to the ecological green revolution. Used in this instance, sustainability means survival of the technological species. As a teacher who has witnessed technologies for teaching come and go (Records, 8mm projector, 8-tracks, cassette tapes, videos, laser discs, and now DVD's), I, like many of my "vintage", often wonder if spending the time to learn and apply Web 2.0 technologies are worth the effort. There has been much extinction in my educational ecosystem.. After reading Nardi and O'Day, however, I am beginning to embrace the idea that Web 2.0 technologies could become a seamless sustainable interface to build community and identity for students and teachers. I am inspired to throw in a little design (a la CI 597 themes) contemplation to devise a more ecologic approach to my change agency (in all things, not just tech).
In view of an ecological approach to innovation, professional development may evolve as well, as teachers engage in ongoing community building (biomes?) in practice a la Web. 2.0. The role of people such as myself will be to build those biome boundary interfaces and leverage points to help teachers look at the tools of tech as educational niches. (This whole metaphor is a stretch, but, please bear with me for one last one .) Perhaps as researchers we can present the "digital bandwagon" to educators as a glass-bottomed boat through which we can view the ever-evolving ecosystems and the masses of undiscovered species. Maybe a devising a sustainable design employing catch and release practices in Web 2.0 environment, more teachers might be persuaded to drop in a line, or at least stick a toe in the water more often.
Educators Finding Nemo, or his evolved cousin..Under the Web 2.0 Sea...
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I find your post has many implications for my future career in Instructional Systems. First off, what exactly is Instructional Systems? I find it funny that my program falls within the College of Education yet almost all of the educators and education students in our class do not know or understand what my program is.
Instruction Systems encompasses many different areas of design and technology. Instructional Design, Instructional Technology, and Educational Technology all fall within Instructional Systems. The students in my program are responsible for designing, developing, and assessing teacher development programs, professional development programs in the corporate world, instructional programs in K-12 and higher education, and technologies (emerging, innovative, and/or solutions for problems) for instructional uses.
I think that the view you suggest of an ecological approach to innovation holds true for any area within Instructional Systems. As I continue through my Ph.D. program in Instructional Systems, I will begin to view technology as having other uses than just a tool in education.
Also, you ask the question, "I often wonder if spending the time to learn and apply Web 2.0 technologies are worth the effort." This question reminds me of the digital evolution of the computer. Why take time learning a tool or computer system if it will be replaced by another in a year or two? The answer is with transfer. I started as a computer programmer and my knowledge of C++ and Java have transferred to ActionScript 3.0. If you learn and apply Web 2.0 technologies in your classroom and keep up with new technologies, I believe that you will be able to easily transfer and use new technologies in your classroom.
AH, Mike, Actually, now since this class, I do think it is well worth taking the time to learn the new technologies. I was just musing and putting it out there that perhaps some teachers aged 50-65 might feel that the computer had been little used in the last 10 years, and perhaps they could avoid learning more if they could just wait it out until retirement or computers went away(like the movies). At the onset of this class I was excited, but embarrassed, felt stupid, felt old, and did not think I could learn new things. If I had had the guts I would have quit. But I was more embarrassed to give up then go on and look dumb.
I found that these Web 2.0 new things are so much easier than DOS...and even than running am 8mm projector and splicing film when it broke. We oldsters have suffered lots at the hands of the IT folks. We were at their mercy and butt of a lot of ridicule if we could not "get it".
Myself, I piloted a thin-client server in my district and was in the IT hip pocket. I ran the videoconferencing room and taught courses about since no other staffer was available and no other teacher wanted to "go there". So, I have dabbled in the tech piece and was able to use the new stuff in my classroom, but then I got behind the times and felt out of the loop.
I wish I had had IT folks like you who get education and I wish there were some way to show teachers that it is ok to delve right in and learn that the learning curve shortens by doing.
Perhaps Penn State can offer this course to teachers in summer and then the community could continue with us afterwards. I would love to keep things going as long as we can and see what shakes out. This is becoming a way of life for me, part of my ecology and context.
Maybe IT can marry education and produce a class...you up for that?
I like the idea of catch and release should be altered to catch and do as you see fit. If more educators catch and "taste" there will be a greater population of educators who have some familiarity with the new technologies. Think how much everyone would be missing out if swordfish were only caught and released and nobody had ever decided to cook one.
This idea seems to go back to the Rogers piece and how change happens. You'd have to entice the innovators, wet their appetite, and then release them back to the pool of teachers.
I think a lot of this reduced resistance to tech comes from the type of people who are making it into an instructional tool. 10 years ago software (nonetheless with kid-friendly graphics) was much harder to make and almost always designed by a hardcore programmer. Now, like Mike was saying in the comments, tools like Flash are allowing people who don't think like programmers to also create some tools, and those people are MUCH BETTER at understanding how to engage a student. Maybe it'll be like the diffusion curve Rogers talked about and when we hit 20% or so everyone will be creating educational software, but until we have to wait for more and more teachers to learn the existing tech, and maybe create new authoring tools of their own.
Build it and we teachers will come...how will teachers learn this tech? Where is the outreach? If I go back to schools, how can I help to disseminate the tech or acculturate the teachers to make this "part of their world"(Little Mermaid, Ariel)?