More NECC Reflections
I’m still thinking about some of the things I heard at NECC. Perhaps it’s because
I’m still working through blogs and podcasts from the conference. (It’s been
great to catch sessions I was unable to attend while I was there.)Some time ago I wrote a post entitled It’s Not About The Wires where I suggested that technology education is not about gadgets for the sake of gadgets but about the thinking students do as a result of using technology. I think that is why Alan November’s session Teaching Zack to Think resonated well with me. My ideas were challenged by Gary Stager during his session Preventing Your One-to-one Dreams From Becoming Nightmares. He said it is about the technology. At first I wasn’t sure if his thesis contradicted my earlier thinking but upon reflection I realized it didn’t. The thinking that goes into a technology project is fundamentally different than the thinking in another type of project. For example, the thinking involved in a Lego robotics project is the way it is because of the technology being used. I am not a programmer. When I first started teaching I taught programming in Basic but that was a long time ago. I know enough to know that there is a way of thinking that fits programming. Programming necessitates a certain “approach” to a problem. That approach is a way of thinking. I agree with Stager. The technology is important. It’s important because of the way it shapes thinking. It’s important because it demands a discipline of thought that is not used in all other areas of education and life.
I’m still working through blogs and podcasts from the conference. (It’s been
great to catch sessions I was unable to attend while I was there.)Some time ago I wrote a post entitled It’s Not About The Wires where I suggested that technology education is not about gadgets for the sake of gadgets but about the thinking students do as a result of using technology. I think that is why Alan November’s session Teaching Zack to Think resonated well with me. My ideas were challenged by Gary Stager during his session Preventing Your One-to-one Dreams From Becoming Nightmares. He said it is about the technology. At first I wasn’t sure if his thesis contradicted my earlier thinking but upon reflection I realized it didn’t. The thinking that goes into a technology project is fundamentally different than the thinking in another type of project. For example, the thinking involved in a Lego robotics project is the way it is because of the technology being used. I am not a programmer. When I first started teaching I taught programming in Basic but that was a long time ago. I know enough to know that there is a way of thinking that fits programming. Programming necessitates a certain “approach” to a problem. That approach is a way of thinking. I agree with Stager. The technology is important. It’s important because of the way it shapes thinking. It’s important because it demands a discipline of thought that is not used in all other areas of education and life.
Comments Off
