Education is a Human Endeavor

Why tech isn’t education’s savior

Right now the world’s eyes are on education. People are asking, watching, talking, sharing, thinking, wondering…waiting. Many parents and students for the first time are turning to technology to not just assist but to be the teacher. So much so that I have found myself even asking, “Is technology going to save education?”

I’m an educator and have been so for the last ten years. From the halls of a juvenile detention center to a 6th grade, public school classroom, to a super innovative, cutting edge school, I have seen a lot in my career as an educator. So every time I find myself asking, “Will tech save this institution?” I know the answer is no. Because people are the only ones who can save education.

The point of technology in school

Make no mistake about it, technology is school is vital to engage the modern learner. But it has a purpose and is used best a certain ways. Write this down, highlight it, tweet it, do what you have to do to remember this: The purpose of technology in school is to make room for more meaningful human moments.

Period.

That’s it. The reason you should embrace adaptive learning software or gamified math apps or Kahoot or Flip Grid or any other classroom technology is to find a way to connect with your students and to make more time in your day as a busy parent or educator to have meaningful and powerful face-to-face interactions with students.

The meaning of meaningful moments

The best moments in school don’t always happen in the class. As a matter of fact, most of them don’t. They happen in the in-betweens.

If you asked me what the most meaningful lecture I’ve ever had was, I wouldn’t be able to tell you the contents of that lecture. I know it was a college history seminar with over 300 people. I know it was Professor James McWilliams from Texas State University. I know that he had this 10-foot bamboo stick instead of a laser pointer to point things out on the screen displaying his PowerPoint hoisted high above the stage. What was he pointing to? I don’t remember. But I remember him. I remember that Dr. McWilliams told me that I had the mind of a historian. I remember him giving me a book he’d written about eating organic food. I remember the in-betweens.

If you ask me what my favorite class from high school was I would tell you that it is any class that Mr. Martin taught. He was my favorite teacher. He was a speech teacher and taught a Holocaust Studies course. From him, I learned that my voice was powerful. I learned to believe in myself. I learned to fight for people who couldn’t fight for themselves. None of those things he taught me in class. I learned them in the in-betweens.

Write this down, highlight it, tweet it, do what you have to do to remember this: The meaning of meaningful moments is the in-between. The more in-between you create, the more meaningful moments you will have with students.

Technology in schools is a more efficient way to create and maximize more in-betweens!

Humanheroes

The heroes of education are not apps. They are not computers. They are not phones. They are not VR headsets. They are not augmented reality maps. They are not in the shiny things that beep and make noise and look really impressive on twitter.

Write this down, highlight it, tweet it, do what you have to do to remember this: The heroes of education are people.