I pretty much dislike right/wrong dichotomies (things in life are rarely black and white), but this graphic posted by Bill Ferriter (@plugusin) on Twitter is worth sharing and briefly commenting on.
I like the question, “What do you want kids to do with technology?” because the answer will show whether the thinking is stuck in the “technology tool quicksand” or developed to the point of “learning outcomes” as the final sentence puts rather well, “Technology is a tool, not a learning outcome.”
I’m struggling with the headings of the columns. Here’s why… You need the “wrong” column to get to the “right” column. And the “right” column is definitely what we want people to do…and with technology…otherwise we’re living in an analog world. The problem with the thinking of educators (and largely our professional development) is that we too often stop at the “wrong” column. Because to move to the “right” column means we have to CHANGE the way we do the “right” column (if we ever did it at all!).
The tools in the “wrong” column (and there are countless more) shouldn’t (and can’t) be totally discounted, or labeled “wrong.” We need them, and more, if we want to get to the “right” column. We need technology tools if we want to THINK with technology. Those of us who get this need to figure out how to influence others to think beyond the “wrong” and get to the “right.”
All that being said, how would you relabel the columns? Initially, I was thinking PLAY and THINK, but does that unfairly characterize PLAY? Do we need to PLAY before or while we THINK?
- A silver lining - January 22, 2022
- Is our use of tech working against us? 🤔 - September 8, 2021
- What’s NOT going to change in the next 10 years? 🤔 - September 7, 2021
boldcommunity says
Reblogged this on Bold Community Blog.
Verena Zimmer says
I really do like this list! Both actually. And it shows how important it is to get to this mind shift … The labeling isn’t optimal, I agree. What about: USE // to SHOW YOUR THINKING.
Karl Schaefer says
How about Create for the Left and Impact for Right? Technology is more then a tool as that discounts the many forms of technology. Using Technology for the sake of using it is as wrong as never using it. I think the concepts of SAMR and TPACK help to shift the disucssion towards academics instead of devotion to technology no matter what we call it. Good post.