If I had a dime every time.....

My last post What will we do with these LD teachers? has brought a few comments that have me thinking, again, about technology use. When I first wrote my piece, I was really saying it tongue-in-cheek in a response to something I read on a discussion forum at Ning that read:

I would argue that time is NOT the issue. We all have the same amount of time but some of us use technology and others don’t. Those teachers who don’t use technology are just prioritizing their time in a different way. The time argument is an easy one to make because we cannot manufacture more time.

Motivation to change IS the issue. A teacher who is motivated to change WILL make time by shifting priorities. Ken Messersmith

Now, I know that teachers are some of the most dedicated and hard working people that I know and I also am accutely aware of the number of things that are being tossed at them at once and that’s just from central office and learning departments. I don’t agree with the above, not because I don’t think that time is sometimes overused as a reason for not doing something. I disagree at a deeper level.

What is an “intelligence”?

From wikipedia

Multiple intelligences is a psychological and educational theory put forth by psychologist Howard Gardner, which suggests that an array of different kinds of “intelligence” exists in human beings. Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of these different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique “cognitive profile.” The theory was first laid out in Gardner’s 1983 book, Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences, and has been further refined in subsequent years.

The theory was proposed in the context of debates about the concept of intelligence, and whether methods which claim to measure intelligence (or aspects thereof) are truly scientific. Gardner’s theory argues that intelligence, as it is traditionally defined, does not adequately encompass the wide variety of abilities humans display. In his conception, a child who masters the multiplication table easily is not necessarily more intelligent overall than a child who struggles to do so. The second child may be stronger in another kind of intelligence, and therefore may best learn the given material through a different approach, or may excel in a field outside of mathematics. The theory suggests that, rather than relying on a uniform curriculum, schools should offer “individual-centered education”, with curricula tailored to the needs of each child.^[1]

Now, as I’ve watched the debate about people using technology, Marc Prensky’s immigrantvsnative usually crops up. I’ve written about that here as have others here and here. So, when Wesley Fryer of Moving at the Speed of Creativty fame left the following comment:

I do acknowledge that there are big differences in the willingness and desire of teachers to learn new tools and tricks– I am not a fan of the digital immigrant/digital native dichotomy, because I see it used often as an excuse rather than a tool to understand differences– and I tend to like saying “we all can be learners” in both analog and digital contexts. The issue of time IS important. I’m now at a conference without my family, and therefore will have some more evening time (if I choose) to read blogs, comment, write, etc. TIME is one of the biggest issues. I am happier if I spend most of the evening at home interacting with my family, and NOT staying up into the wee hours of the night reading and writing (and playing)– but those late hours tend to be the times I learn the most and am the most “productive” when it comes to learning new read/write web stuff.The idea of teachers being “LD” when it comes to technology use is tied, I suppose, to the same conceptions of Marc Prensky when he wrote about Digital Immigrants, only it ties the apparent inability to learn as fast as others to a learning style or orientation rather than generational membership. I think I prefer that sort of LD distinction, instead of grouping essentially all “adults” in the “immigrant camp.” I wrote a bit about this last October in an ITM post titled “Digital refugees and bridges.” Thanks for this post. I’m still thinking…..

Is it an intelligence? I, too, sat back to ponder a bit more closely what I had said. Right off the start, I really don’t think that it is a learning disability.
For me, the use of digital technology is looking more and more like a learning intelligence. People learn better through this media and, because of their intiutive use of it, can create bridges that allow some of their other intelligences; kinesthetic, intra-personal, interpersonal, spatial, linguistic to be “mashed” thus providing a better understanding or an ability to create from their understanding. So, I use the RSS reader to find different things to read and look at visually, on my blog there is more than just the cursor moving across the page because I have pictures, icons and other stimuli that will draw my eyes when I pause to think or reflect, I will look at video and it will make a connection with something I read, which will then spark an idea that I will delve into on my blog.

Lately, my focus has been on my use of reflection to develop as an administrator, trying new ideas, getting feedback from others who dare comment on the blog and using a reflective journal (handwritten) to record my reflections. Because I am in a somewhat isolated small community, I use my blog and the RSS reader to interact with others, share ideas and, with Skype and Twitter, interact in ways beyond the page. I have used this reflecting that I’ve been doing to think about this whole teacher/technology piece because, frankly, it’s very, very important to me.

I’ve been spending more time assisting teachers with using the technology. As I have done this, I have noticed that some are better able to “learn” what we are doing while others struggle with the ideas and need reteaching. Sound familiar? It should if you’ve taught middle years math and fractions! Why is this? The whole immigrant/native thing doesn’t work for me because I see people who are suppose to be immigrants fit nicely into the digital world while the opposite is true. So, I began to wonder if, just like my 4th daughter who struggles with reading and comprehension, there might be something to learning within the digital environment. Now, my daughter spends extra time reading and working on her writing because she has a learning disability. She will most likely always struggle with this. But, she has other abilities that more than make up for this. As a 10 year old, she has empathy for other people well beyond her years. She is able to find good in people and will keep seeing the good even when they have slighted her. It frustrates her mother and me to no end because we expect that one day she’s going to be really hurt and lose a bit of her empathy. So far, we’ve been completely wrong - she’s taught us a few things along the way.

Now, if time and priority were able to fix this like is suggested, then she should be reading well ahead of her grade but she isn’t. She struggles linguistically but when it comes to the interpersonal skills, there are many whom she could teach a lesson. So, as early adopters of technology, are we maybe not seeing the struggles of our fellow classmates in a clear way? Are we trying to provide a label “immigrant” “native” to make things/people feel better about themselves? Could it be that, no matter how long technology is around, there will be people who will struggle and we don’t/can’t face that fact because if just might mean that not all people will be able to participate equally in the 21st century classroom? I don’t have the answers but as I watch my students and the various students who struggle with different learning difficulties, it seems that it might just be possible that, like them, not all people will use technology to the degree that many of us are using it. Will that be bad?

As I envision the future, I agree that we will need to use technology more in our schools and, for that matter, in our lives. But I don’t want to lose those intelligences that are different but so much needed. As I watch my daughter find that lonely soul on the playground or notice someone who doesn’t have, I hope that she will never, ever lose that for anything and, whether she becomes proficient with technology or not, she has alot to teach us. In her world, the days are almost always sunny as she sees good despite some of the things that happen. No amount of technology can teach that and immigrant or native, she has intelligences that I see lacking, even in myself sometimes. ………….I wonder where she gets it?