XplanaZine

Transcript

It’s amazing how history repeats itself, especially when it comes to our personal lives.

When I was a kid, my brothers and I collected HO scale slot cars. We put our pieces of track together with those of the other kids in the neighborhood and built incredibly complex race tracks. We spent hour upon hour and the acing against each other, both in our living rooms and at the local hobby shop where the owner had a huge setup for racing.

Now, I was pretty crazy about the cars and the cool controllers that were in the display case at the hobby shop. There was one, in particular, that I just couldn’t stop thinking about. It was a Lotus Special with a transparent body. I wanted that car as much as Ralphie wanted a Red Rider BB gun in A Christmas Story , And, like him, I begged my parents to buy this car for me. I brought it up every chance I got.

The interesting thing about all this was that I already had the fastest car in the neighborhood. I hadn’t lost a race among my friends in months and I won more often than not in the Saturday morning races at the hobby shop. But, nonetheless, I was convinced that the Lotus Special would be the greatest car anyone could ever have. And, as if to prove dreams really do come true, when my birthday rolled around, my mother presented me with my very own Lotus Special.

Well, as you may have already guessed, the object of my desire turned out to be the world’s biggest lemon. It never worked the way it was supposed to. I lost every race I ever entered with that car, and I ended up throwing it in the trash can after less than a month. Literally.

Later, actually much later, I was able to see that I had gotten caught up in the glitter of new. I had been seduced by a newfangled transparent body sitting on top of an untried technology.

I’d like to say that was the only times in my life I’ve let a beautiful form divert my attention and wisdom from a well-tuned engine. Unfortunately, the truth is that I’m human. The truth is that this tendency has been repeated throughout my life.

I’m a sucker for new things, especially when they have to do with technology. I want the latest cell phone, the newest computer, and the most up-to-date version of my software. And more often than not, I am guilty of paying no attention to the real value of the new gadgets or software. I fixate instead on how shiny they are or how cool I ma compared to people who don’t yet have these things.

Well, like I said, I’m only human. That means I am not alone in my love of the new and my tendency to ignore substance for the ephemeral lure of pretty baubles. Truth be told, most of us get caught up with new technologies. Products are designed based on this fact and marketing people count on it. They know that we will often abandon our reason and common sense for a new technology.

By the way, people in education are just as susceptible to this illness as anyone else. From administrators to teachers, we have been eager to embrace new technologies, often without asking whether or not they will actually improve learning. Lately, it seems, we have been increasingly diligent about launching pilot programs with handhelds, trying new synchronous collaborative tools, and getting grant money to develop even more new online teaching tools.

My just-beneath-the-surface concern about form over substance got some relief today, however, when I read Jay Rosen ’s blog in which he says that one of the top ten ideas of 2004 was that content was more important than its container. Now, I know Jay was talking about journalism, but the statement is one we would all do well to remember.

Of course, it’s not just a statement for 2004. Content, particularly good content, has always been more important than the container it’s put in. No matter how beautiful that container may be.

My suggestion for all educators in 2005 is that we concentrate on content first. I propose that we actually pretend there is no technology available to us other than simple sticks with which we can draw in the dirt. I believe that this year will be the best ever in education if we as teachers focus on being the best subject matter experts possible and plan great lessons based on the really beautiful stuff of learning — content. After we do that — and only after — we will be qualified to consider some technologies that might be used to make that content shine even more.

And now, for the good stuff.

The Good Stuff

Edu Torrents

Pew Survey Report

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