Blog Juice for Educational Technology

Before I gripe, just a little news. Son of Class Blogmeister went up yesterday to mostly favorable response. There were a number of glitches initially, which I knew there would be, but everything that has been encountered has been fixed now, between the hours of 4:00 AM and the present (11:04 AM).

Programming is an interesting thing. It’s like building, engineering, art, writing… it’s like a lot of things. But really, it’s about building an experience for other people, something for them to do, a place to go to, a way to solve some problem. It is an extraordinarily gratifying endeavor, that could not have been imagined during my schooling years. I’m sure there’s a message there, but I’m leaving it alone for now.

Why a season of discontent? I just listened to a podcast by Bud Hunt, Podcast: In a Hurry. He brought together something that had sorta blown over my head, a general thread of conversation among the educator blogorati. People are voicing a growing discontent with the status quo of the education industry, it’s resistance to change, and our increasing unhappiness with being a part of an institution that seems more interested in maintaining its own comfort than doing its job — preparing children for their future.

Dedication to the mission is still with us. If anything it is stronger. It is the heart of our discontent. We live in an incredibly creative time with opportunities whose realization depends on our imaginations more than any other skill or character trait. Yet, we work for an institution that remains grounded in industrial age notions of itself, and we don’t like it.

Bud mentioned postings by Will Richardson, Steve Dembo, and Stephen Downes, as well as my recent podcast about classrooms in 2015. Certainly the best reference to our growing frustration is the New Year announcement from John Pederson, Quit your Day Job 101. He did it. He quit his job as a district director of technology and is going to have a go at making a living without a job. I can only imagine the courage that this came from. For me, it was my wife. It didn’t even occur to me to quit, until she suggested the idea.

I wish John all the luck, and know that we will continue to be in touch, as I will certainly be paying more attention to his blog. Perhaps it is in becoming small pieces loosely joined that we will best affect change. One thing that I do know, is that the conversation that has grown through the read/write web is different from anything before, and it is through this new avenue of expression that our discontent is becoming clarified and hopefully the solutions will be crafted and irresistibly presented.

Until then!