BY KEVIN PULFER
Have you ever watched a toddler play? I’m talking about sitting and watching, intent on discovering what makes them tick. My two year old sees the world as one filled with trains. Anything and anyone becomes a train. He doesn’t see the world for what it is widely accepted. He sees it for what it is through the only eyes that matter to him- his own. As he gets older he will be oriented strongly into our culture and it will be stressed that everything has a strict purpose. This will be part of what the world considers learning, but others see it as a loss. The ability to see the world as one filled with different possibilities is a strong link to divergent thinking. This isn’t as celebrated in our world as much as standardized IQ scores, but as most will admit, improvements in our world often come from repurposing something old into something new. A frisbee is born from a pie plate, but then a life preserving disc is born from a frisbee. The ability to see the world differently will become increasingly important as we reorient ourselves to become better teachers.

The overwhelming teacher attitude towards technology is that we need more of it. Our lives would be simpler if every child had access to a personal computing device. Smartboards would make life so much easier. When these are placed into rooms, often they are used to achieve the exact same missions as were previously targeted. We take our lunch count on the Smartboard instead of raising our hands. We draw on the Smartboard instead of on the chalkboard. Is anything truly revolutionary happening in these instances? Is this truly where the investment needs to be placed? The technology allows you to do much differently, this is true. However, as with any tool, it will only be used as successfully as the person using it allows. When we are ingrained that there is a right way to conduct school, we set in place rigid mindsets and a box that feels confining. Many good teachers have very well-meaning intentions with their actions, but due to the culture of schools they cannot see the forest through the trees.

If you give a computer to a kid, I guarantee you they will not use it the way you intend. You can try and teach, but let’s face it, you probably don’t know the half of what is available out there. It’s scary. There are possibly unfiltered and inappropriate websites and the potential for time wasting. Parents may question you and you have to always appear in control, even if you don’t feel that way. Our students bring this divergent thinking and see technology for what it can be. It can lead to a new paradigm for learning. They have a passion to create and to discover. They need to connect and share. This means that we have to embrace that ideal of learning and let go of some of those tenets we cling so tightly. We cannot hold onto knowledge as if we are its’ gatekeepers-we need to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to have authentic learning experiences along with our students. Allow one of your students to throw you a frisbee and pull you into a new way of thinking. See the technology as a harbinger of change. Technology is just a tool, but what it can allow you to now bring into your classroom can be so much more.