The heart of the matter

I've been out of the game for a while.

Oh....I've been busy.

Building websites that no one has seen.

Writing materials that no one has read.

Creating videos that no one has watched.

I've been in my own self-imposed creative space. (Perhaps "box" would be a better word). I create it, read it, then put it away. But I think it's time to come out of the shadows. Good, bad or indifferent, I've still got a lot to say. (HUGE surprise there).

So I'll say it....and share it.

Sound good?

Cool.

So here we go.....

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I am a card carrying member of Kelly Tenkely's bloggers alliance. Now mind you, while I was a busy little bee creating stuff for my own viewing pleasure, I hadn't read (or written) an edublog in some time. This morning, I made a P90X type commitment. I committed to reading, commenting or blogging about something each and every day. So I opened up my google reader at long last and started to wade through my overflowing inbox.

At the top of my inbox was a blog titled, Blogging About The Web 2.0 Classroom by Steve Anderson. My first thought, in the spirit of complete candor, was oh no. Not another one of these. I've read about 4000 "edublogs" on "School 2.0."

But I'd made a commitment. Read, Michael. Read. So I plunged ahead nonetheless.

The first blog was Passion for Real Education Reform.

Good title, I thought.

So tell me about "real" education reform Mr. Anderson.

What do you have to say?

To my surprise, the post wasn't really about education reform at all. It was about passion. Mr. Anderson writes, "No matter what, the key to any type of change or reform is passion." He then goes on to describe (not define) what he means by passion. He writes:

Passion is arriving in the classroom before the sun rises and leaving after the sun sets to plan a lesson, set up a lab or take part in professional development, to provide the best learning experience for each kid.

Passion is spending thousands of dollars out of pocket each year on the supplies we know kids need but districts have decided to cut in their never ending search to trim budgets all in an effort to provide the best learning experience for each kid.

Passion is knowing inside that you really work 13 months a year, even though some might say you are lucky you have “summers off,” because you know what you learn and do in your free time helps provide the best learning experience for each kid.

Passion is working and learning with kids.

When I finished reading, I was moved. I thought, "YEAH! You GO Mr. Anderson!" And I found it hugely ironic that the first ed tech blog that I'd read in some time wasn't about technology at all (thank goodness), but about passion.

About a matter of the heart.

Because I have been of the opinion for some time that the battle for meaningful technology integration, and for school reform in general, is less an intellectual exercise and more about appealing to the heart. Move people and they will act. Appeal to the heart, not just the mind, and change, however slow or incremental, will come.

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I wrote the following blog almost two years ago, but I'm sharing it again because it seems on point.

Please enjoy.

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Meaningful Technology Integration--The heart of the matter

"It's time to get down to the heart of the matter."
Don Henley

Why haven't we been more successful at integrating technology into our curriculum and classrooms? Why is technology, and all its power and promise, still relegated to the back of the educational bus by many school boards and district administrators? Why hasn't there been a howl of protest from outraged parents demanding that schools integrate 21st century learning tools into our schools right now?

Yesterday, I read a plurk from "Beth," a teacher with 27 years experience who might be losing her job along with 14 other technology integration specialists because their jobs were considered "non-instructional." This would leave, I believe, approximately 1 technology integration specialist for every 1500 students in this particular district.

The reaction was one of shock and outrage while "Beth" lamented over what she could do. As I tried to sleep last night, I was haunted by something Beth wrote: "It will be the students who suffer the most."

So what do we do?

Beth's plight, and the plight shared by so many teachers, principals and administrators across the country trying, with varying degrees of success, to meaningfully integrate technology into our schools and classrooms is rooted, I think, in one core cause.

It's time to get down to the heart of the matter.

It's time to appeal to the heart.

When we are moved, we act. When we feel, we respond. Right now, those of us "in" education technology do a great job....of talking to ourselves. I'm continually inspired and informed by the leaders and visionaries of the ed tech movement. I marvel at their use of technology and ability to identify new and clever widgets, gadgets and applications. NECC is a blast (loved Nashville, wasn't so hot on San Antonio), but after two years of attending, is it just me or does it seem like we're primarily still just talking to each other?

I think what we need to do is tell a better story. We need to get people to care. We need to find a way to engage that fifth grade teacher in Indianapolis who doesn't give a damn about computers but who is sick and tired of looking at bored and blank faces every day. We need to better engage school boards who see us coming, clutch their wallets, and think: "Oh no. YOU just want us to buy a bunch of computers and we have MUCH bigger fish to fry. We don't have money for teachers or textbooks and you want us to invest in laptops?"

The foundational issue isn't the merit of our cause, but how we share and frame our message. How do we reach our audience? How do we effectively share our vision with our school boards, administrators and the thousands of teachers who have never heard of NECC and will never attend? Too often our message gets lost, diluted or muddled. Or it becomes confusing and technocentric.

So do we do that?

How do you do that?

What I have found, for what its worth, that the least compelling way to talk about technology is to talk about technology. It's boring. Cold and boring. And in my humble opinion, presentations that involve pointing and clicking through an application in front of a large roomful of people are painful to watch. (Organizers at NECC, please take note). If the people pointing and clicking would simply turn around and look at the people in the room, they would often see a room full of confused and disengaged faces (and these are teachers we're talking about). Process and applications should be addressed in smaller, more hands-on sessions. Inspire people about why. Make the case why technology is important; why technology is meaningful, why technology engages our students and why technology improves student outcomes. Because if we don't get beyond why, we'll never get to how.

One of the best presentations that I've ever attended was by Dr. Tim Tyson and it was one of the least technical presentations I've ever attended. But it was beautiful; moving. It made we want to act.

My challenge to you is make us feel it. Make people care. Appeal to the heart, not just to the mind.

How you do it is up to you.

But if you have ideas, share them. Because if we're going to win this fight; we're going to win it together.