August 2003 — Making Life Easier
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Grabbing Technology by the Tail
The next morning, by pure luck, I found a way to get the software to work by accidentally hitting a key that caused the magic to happen. It was such a truly joyous moment that I thought to myself: "Technology is wonderful! Life is great! I love technology!" Needless to say, the project was completed on time and was infinitely faster and easier to do thanks to the technology I was using.
Reluctance to Embrace Technology
I believe this experience is very relevant to why so many educators are reluctant to embrace technology in the classroom. First, they are not convinced it will be helpful in meeting their pressing needs; they firmly believe it will be more of a headache and problem to learn and use than it is worth. Second, educators too often don't have the sense of urgency, personal demand and willingness to confront the difficulties they may face in learning to use and implement the technology properly. They don't believe it can really help them achieve their goals more efficiently, effectively and easily once it has been properly utilized.
One of my favorite quotes is by Mark Twain: "The person who grabs a cat by the tail learns something he could not learn in any other way." This is applicable to educators because sometimes implementing technology can seem like you're grabbing a cat by its tail. However, if the outcome is that you have truly found a way to make your work easier and your ability to achieve your goals greatly enhanced, then I say bring on the cat.
Bernard Percy (former editor-in-chief of Converge magazine) is a noted educator, author, producer and Senior Fellow at the Center for Digital Education. Contact him at bcpercy@sbcglobal.net.
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