Bud the Teacher

Clarence asks an interesting question in regards to getting permission for technological tools:

Do we ask the permission of parents before we give their kids pencils
and paper and they give us their thoughts on other topics? If we are
arguing that these tools are basic, and the use of them should be
evenly distributed throughout society, should people be able to opt out
of their use? Is that not like opting out of math class?

I think he’s right.  What do you think?

David Jakes gets it right when he writes about who should have the ultimate say in who gets to decide whether or not certain schools should have access to particular tools:

The community makes the decision. 

Yes, it’s probably the only answer that makes sense-the values, the
beliefs, and the moral views that the community holds determines the
call. Schools are responsible to the communities they serve, and that
responsibility is managed by the board of education. If the school
board directs the IT coordinator or the IT staff to block such sites,
then I’m good with that. Again, it is my belief that the philosophy of
what to block/not block must come from the school board and should not
originate from a set of personal beliefs of an IT director or
coordinator.

Now, that’s not to say that the community shouldn’t have all (or at least the best possible) information and opinions from educators and parents and others when it comes time to make such decisions.  Or that the community will always be right.  But we’ve got mechanisms in place in our communities to ensure the rights of the minority aren’t trampled when these types of decisions get made.

    Allowing the community to be involved in such decision making isn’t easy, nor does the ideal of everyone coming together to agree on what’s best for a group of students always work; nor do the mechanisms always work in our favor, if at all.  Responsible and intelligent adults who have the best interests of students in mind often disagree when it comes to what’s best for schools.  And losing a battle always sucks, no matter what side you’re on. 

    In fact, it’d be far easier if one person in an office somewhere gets to make all of the decisions about what gets into schools and what doesn’t.  But it’d be wrong, even if I was the person who got to have the final word.

    In an abrupt possible topic change, and perhaps the first openly political statement I’ve made on this blog (I try to be very careful with those, as I’m not a politician), DOPA is a bad piece of legislation that is being debated and decided largely by people who have no interest in dialoguing with those of us in the education community.  It’s the perfect example of how a "representative" body (i.e. the U.S. House of Representatives) has mistakenly identified a "problem" that isn’t and is attempting to craft a solution that ignores the needs and voices of the community that it will affect.   Do we need to help children be safe on the Internet?  Certainly.  Does DOPA help?  Nope. 

    I hope the U.S. Senate does a better job of listening to the voices of our communities and realizes that this is strongly misguided legislation that will solve no problems and will actually create more problems, as "social networks" will move into the underground and we won’t be able to help students and parents and families, the communities that we serve,  to successfully and safely navigate them.

    Whew.  It felt good to get that off my chest.  So ends the political soapboxing. 

    I love this idea:

Next month, the Sci Fi Channel is hosting a kick-off event in conjunction with Wired’s NextFest to announce their new public affairs initiative. Visions For Tomorrow
is a multi-platform, national public affairs campaign to "inspire
individuals, organizations, and policymakers to meet the growing
challenges of the future and advance the idea that individuals can
affect positive change. The campaign launch will focus on the
production and use of energy – one of today’s most critical issues."

The over-arching idea behind VFT is that small changes now can result in a large impact on the future. Or, in the words of the Mahatma, "You must be the change you want to see in the world."

What changes do you want? What are your visions for tomorrow? Here are some of mine, in no particular order.

Visit Josh’s blog to see his visions.  They’re worth a look.  Then, go and post some of your own.  Wouldn’t this make a great recurring writing prompt for students?  This idea reminds me of one of my favorite sound bites of all time:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

Margaret Mead
US anthropologist & popularizer of anthropology  (1901 - 1978)