Understanding Adopt & Adapt But Hating the Delivery

While reading Adopt and Adapt: Shaping Tech for the Classroom by Marc Prensky I found myself having some old feelings that absolutely enrage me. I was taken back to my teaching days in public schools in California, Louisiana, and Texas. It seems to me that teachers and schools are too easily blamed for whatever the issue or problem of the day is. I also deeply resent the fact that he identifies schools as a key barrier to technological adoption because of the unwillingness to except change by the teachers and administrators. He does acknowledge the “extremely delicate balance between many sets of pressures -- political, parental, social, organizational, supervisory, and financial -- that any technological change is bound to disrupt.” But, he provides no answers or ideas to help maintain a balance to make a movement more manageable for teachers and schools.

I do agree with Mr. Prensky’s thoughts on the importance of moving forward and making sure that we are changing with the changing needs of students. I understand the importance of making sure that our students have the skills and experiences that they need in this quickly changing technological world. I also like his explanation of "digital natives" those who are born into digital technology and "digital immigrants" those who have learned about digital technology later in life. I just object to the tone of this article.

I am wondering if Mr. Prensky is willing to be part of the "we" when he states, "So, let's not just adopt technology into our schools. Let's adapt it, push it, pull it, iterate with it, experiment with it, test it, and redo it, until we reach the point where we and our kids truly feel we've done our very best. Then, let's push it and pull it some more. And let's do it quickly, so the 22nd century doesn't catch us by surprise with too much of our work undone." I believe that when you identify a problem you should be willing to be part of the solutions and not just pass it along as someone else's problem. I feel that this article points out a lot of issues but doesn't provide any concrete ideas for solutions.