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I actually watched each of the presentations (I only bookmarked the first) because they were all so entertaining and thought-provoking. I especially like the history of technology (e.g. oral to writing to print) and the threats each was perceived to have on the previous. I wonder if showing these to teachers might introduce our county's "21st century learning" initiative and the need for the "less than willing" to embrace constantly changing technology.

WOW! I know that this is not all educational but it does show why educators need to be open to change... as it is coming!

Great visual timeline of instructional technology with informative quotes. I think that it is interesting to note that technology is not driven by education but rather changes in technology drive education.

The predicting the future quotes are telling. Makes me want to find more info highlighting the edtech pioneers and their predictions of the future.

This slideshow shows how people can be resistant to change.

Have you ever said or thought this: "We didn't have [x] when I was a kid and I turned out okay"? You might be interested on an article shared by George Couros in Twitter. The author says if this argument is valid, so these others are too: "Buses? We walked to school barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways!", "Electricity? Pshaw! Do you know how dangerous those wires are? When we were kids we had oil lamps and candles and everything was fine.", "Agriculture? Hah! It's the ruin of society! Kids are just sitting around getting soft while they watch the crops grow. When I was a child we actually had to run after our food. We were tough, not like these kids today.", etc… Check it out!

The knee-jerk reactions that teachers (& yes, me too!) have against new technology applications are perfectly understandable. Change is not always easy, but attitudes will depend on how things are introduced and explored. I successfully avoided Facebook for a year until a friend sat me down and went through it (it was also the only way to communicate with her, so I had to!) Some of the negativity from teachers must be connected to how technologies are introduced to them. Being told "you are doing this, this and this now" without any explanation or support is bound to develop negativity.

"Effective technology plans are short term, not long term. Five year plans are too long. Technology is changing so fast that it is almost impossible to plan what type of technology will be available for use five years from now..." Along with this worthy advice that shows how up-to-date we must be as educators, the author mentions very important aspects to have in mind in a technology plan, like: *Effective technology plans focus on applications, not technology. *Effective technology plans go beyond enhancing the curriculum. *Effective technology plans define technology as more than computers. *Effective technology plan stress integration of technology into the curriculum. *Effective technology plans are tied to staff development plans. Norma Acero.

An excellant resource for development of a step-by-step school technology plan.

It is interesting to see that your plan states that 5 years is too long for a plan. Several plans suggest that 5 years is the length of time appropriate for these plans. I agree that 5 years is too long as technology changes so quickly.

2006 paper on the development of technology

This quote struck me: "1995: Survey of teachers reported that computers were rarely used for instruction, but were used in elementary schools for drill and practice and in secondary schools for computer-related skills such as word processing" It was already 1995!!!! Things have changed so much in so little time!!!! I love to be able to see all these changes!! I love to have become an adult while witnessing so many revolutions of all kinds....

Summary of Technology in Education in the 20th Century

selling points for 1:1 computing

After reading this, I am struck by the thought of how the excitement and motivation changes from when a child is in elementary school to when he/she attends high school. At the high school level it often appears that the students resist looking at the sites they are instructed to. I have often passed by a classroom window where several of the students were on a relevant site while the rest were looking at anything from football to what is on sale at a local department school.

This is a video that goes through the different phases of technology use in Education. It is an advertisement for Smart equipment, but it's still an interesting short video

I noticed that the commonality over time was the users ingenuity in how he interfaced with the given resources.

Nice find. Interesting how they showed the digital age in 1995 with people connecting all over the world, but then back in the classroom in 2000 with smartboards not really used to connect with others. In the video, it doesn't look like the smartboard is changing the classroom dynamic of teacher-centered learning.

This site shows how the definition of Ed Tech has changed sinced the 60's.

Nice find - very helpful in seeing the evolution.

Lots of great quotes in this article. I also like that it incorporates impact of learning theory on edtech: objectivism, behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism & postmodernism.

There are a lot of interesting bits of information in this article. It is interesting that the author discusses why changes in education have taken place. I haven't considered war as a driving force behind educational reform before. It is also interesting to learn that the University of Phoenix is the largest university. This article is a great find!

This is a video of how education continues to change in the United States of America.

Technology has evolved into a vast field of capabilities. This site has comparisons of the past and the present. The slide show really gives you that concept of evolution.

Another video presentation that captures the past as well as the future. It is amazing how much we have grown. We still have a long way to go...

This article provides a great historical synopsis of computers in education but the conclusion on page 10 sums it up nicely. For the past 15 years since I have been in a public education system I am constantly feeling like I'm behind the "8 ball' when it comes to technology because its use and constant changes are ever demanding.

In order to coach the transition process of change, technological or otherwise, administrators need to familiarize themselves with this process. I hope you find the information useful.

An example of law governing the interaction between educators and students and how quickly it changes.

This is a link to a word document that details the state of Connecticut's technology plan. They have the typical mentions of leadership vision etc..., but also some other buzz words and ideas that peaked my interest. I was impressed with their mention of striving to provide all of the families with equal access to technology at home to support learning and moving more toward student directed learning as opposed to teacher directed learning among other things. If they can indeed insight these changes, they will be well on their way to integrating 21st century skills in their school systems. Good food for thought!