Week 2
The latest post in the Educational Technology and Mobile Learning blog is focused on security. This is a comonplace theme in all things technology these days, yet I confess that I am surprised at the emphasis on the educational technology space specifically. I would not have imagined this to have been a specifically vulnerable space, yet the blogger claims that it is a frequent target of hackers because it is so sprawling a field, with little consistency and especially vulnerable populations, including not only students (who tend to be technologically savvy but immature and socially naive) but also parents and educators (who may be socially sophisticated and mature, but unaware of technological pitfalls). Well, now that you put it that way...

The post is valuable for anyone wading into these waters as a guide to secure practices and safe resources: https://www.educatorstechnology.com/2019/12/complete-web-browsing-privacy-guide-for.html

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On CoolCatTeacher, blogger Vicki Davis hosts guest blogger and teacher Chelsey Greer podcasting on a similarly topical issue, at least for "big picture" educators. That topic is "Talking to Students About the Big Fake"--a matter of deep significance in a world permeated with "fake news" and other such phenomena in the merit-flattening digital environment. The concept of a "post-truth world" threatens students with a deep cynicism that would undermine any moral component to education, and probably more. The Greer podcast is a follow-up on an earlier podcast (linked) identifying the astounding variety and depth of fakery on-line, but her focus is more on how to teach this in the classroom. It is a facinating and important discussion. https://www.coolcatteacher.com/how-to-talk-to-your-students-about-the-deep-fake/

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The most recent post at the Educational Technology Guy, assesses a new "learning management system, assessment management and data management" program for teachers called Otus. The similarity the name to the old Lotus software suite cannot be coincidental, since Otus is truly a suite of tools for teachers. It also is clearly a product created with the application of contemporary educational approaches in mind, such as standard-based assessment. However, beyond some nice screenshots and vendor demo videos, there is little discussion on the blogger's part and nothing like a real assessment of its pros and cons, useability, cost, multi-platform compatibility (other than a mobile app), multi-user functionality, etc. In brief, then, this post is a product teaser, and nothing more. Disappointing. http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2019/11/otus-lms-data-management-and-assessment.html

Hey, there! Y'all know me. I'm that guy. You've seen me a thousand times before, but... whatever you think, trust me, it's wrong. I'm maddeningly complicated, and pathetically simple. I'm bored and listless and passionate and frantic. I'm warm and aloof, I love everybody but I want to be alone. I have missions and interests, and often I can't tell which is which. I love all forms of expression, but I don't trust any of them. So now that that's out of the way...

I love technology! Old and new, things I can understand  because I understand them, things I don't understand because--they can do THAT?! Cooool! I love the Leonardos, who can imagine things that won't be doable for hundreds of years, and yet are rooted in reality and anything but flights of fancy. I love the brilliantly simple solutions to maddeningly complex problems, and the complex solutions that stand on the shoulders of giants. I am amazed at the constant march of progress and the trail of obsolescence in its wake and am fascinated by the irreversible impacts of technology on society and culture, yet marvel at ancient technologies that stands the test of time.

Technology is already an integral part of learning, and teaching, and it always has been. But the pace of technological change in our time upends our assumptions and raises new challenges, because not only technology, but the way humans interface with the world is changing on a faster than generational basis. To teach students, one must know how those students assimilate information, and today, not only do they do this differently from their parents, they do it differently from their older siblings. Because teachers are generally a generation or more removed from their students, they are several technological generations removed.

I look to the 21st Century English Teaching course to provide tools for working within this altered reality, but more important, to offer flexible approaches to a pedagogic reality that will only continue to change.