Victor: What is something educators can do right now to reimagine their schools?

Chris: I think what every educator should be able to do is to consider “What do I control, what do I have control over?” And by control, I don’t mean command-and-control teaching, I mean, if you’re a classroom teacher, what you own inside your classroom or, if you are a principal, within your school. Within the boundaries that we have control over, how can we develop visions of what we want in order to invest in our kids? Then, latch all of our systems and structures that we have control over to that overall vision. The way kids produce information, the way they consume information, the way they reflect, the way that we as educators grade, the way we sit kids in the classroom, anything that you have control over, ask yourself, “Does it leverage the best ideas that we have? Does it leverage the best vision for what we have for what we hope kids can do and learn and be with us?” If not, change your policies! Change your structures so that they are more closely aligned to that best vision of what we are and what we can be.

Chris: I think you let people see what is best. I think you let people what is possible. You stop making this one more thing that teachers have to do and help them see that using this technology will allow them to transform their practice.

Institutions should be teaching students about the importance of context in online communications, the fluidity of privacy, awareness of nuance, and the power of community-building through social media.

Students are learning and growing in tandem with faculty and staff. In the near future, judging someone’s social media postings from their pre-college days may be significantly reduced.

At TeachThought, we tend towards the tech-infused model, but do spend time exploring the limits and challenges of technology, the impact of rapid technology change, and carefully considering important questions before diving in head-first.

I have seen too many students -- current and former, who are brilliant people, but not the best writers, who end up feeling inferior because they couldn't master the nuance and metaphor of a virtuoso like Maureen Dowd.