Pushing Change Over The Edge!

It's frustrating, it looks like once you drop your quarter in, it will push the stacks of quarters over the edge and into the palm of your hand. You insert your quarter, aim carefully and drop it and what happens? It get absorbed and the stack of existing coins moves very little. How can that be? It looked so easy and obvious but we in tech integration for any length of time have seen it before. We invest in new tools and even staff development but the stack of change doesn't move.

Over the years I've come to believe that true, lasting change is much more "human" than silicon. From the outset I use stories and videos I call conversational lubricants. I use examples of student work in which they are changing the world through their efforts. Podcasts, blogs and wikis, as well as many other web 2.0 tools allow learners to publish authentic work to the world. This creates opportunities for kids to feel a real impact or contribution to a world level discussion or issue. This can be an amazing thing to put in front of a staff and I see it create pockets of possibility by lighting a fire on that day but that fire can be cold embers in short order. It is administrative support, IT support and staff support that can ensure that the fire burns long enough to make an impact on learners over time.

Join the discussion! What are your thoughts?