“On! On!”

An article by Darin Wagner    No Comments

My son recently turned two, and even at this early age he sees the world in a simple duality – “on” and “off.” When presented with something new, his little hands turn the object over and over while his eyes carefully examine the surface. If he can’t find a button or a switch, he lifts his head up toward me, and with a voice that combines the tone of both a request and a command, he says, “On! On!”

His behavior caused me to ask some questions about the circumstances in classrooms today.

• Are students “on” in classrooms today?
• Have we turned students “off” by continuing to instruct in the same manner we were taught?
• Have we turned students “off” by choosing to ignore the technologies that are a part of their daily life?
• Are students waiting to be turned “on” by teachers who embrace change, both technological and pedagogical?
• What might happen in classrooms if we did turn them “on”?

I will write about some of the factors that influence effective classroom technology integration in future posts.