What makes someone embrace a new technology tool?
Every two years my cell phone is eligible to be upgraded. Each time I am forced to learn a whole new set of tools in order to communicate effectively with this new phone. First came texting, then taking and sharing photos, and now with the release of iPhone4GS last week, Siri!
If educators would be forced to refresh and re-tool with instructional technology in the classroom every two years like we must with cell phone plans, we would be blazing trails into the 22nd century and beyond!
We all cling to the comfort of the old, afraid to drop the heavy old tools we are so familiar with and embrace a collaborative 21st Century tool. By clinging to old technology and not venturing out to try new things, we become weighted down just like carrying a load of bricks where ever we go. If we were to try to jump weighted down with bricks, we do not have the ability to leap for the sky.
As an example, I took a bold new move several years ago when I abandoned my brick of MS Word and took my bold leap into Google Docs.
It started after I had attended the ISTE conference and learned about this new tool. I was at a meeting in school where most people were taking notes in Word, a few even with paper and pencil. I jumped in with a new Google Doc and shared it with one of my colleague's. As the meeting progressed, we together took notes, added links, and even shared ideas by instant messaging on the side of the doc. It ROCKED! When I left the meeting, my notes were not only complete, but the doc was shared with all the people in the room! Everyone had the power to add more content to this document and the doc is always available in the cloud for everyone to access anytime.
Then and there I knew this was a game changer for workflow productivity. The power of many brains on one document was revolutionary. Imagine how teacher collaboration could be transformed if everyone were using Google Docs.
Taking that first step to incorporate a new tool into my routine is vital to continual growth and learning. I am constantly dropping bricks so I can bounce higher and higher into the 22nd century!
I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and dropped the brick of MS Word. Letting go and re-tooling is a must. It’s up to you, are you ready to drop a brick and bounce with me?
Every two years my cell phone is eligible to be upgraded. Each time I am forced to learn a whole new set of tools in order to communicate effectively with this new phone. First came texting, then taking and sharing photos, and now with the release of iPhone4GS last week, Siri!
If educators would be forced to refresh and re-tool with instructional technology in the classroom every two years like we must with cell phone plans, we would be blazing trails into the 22nd century and beyond!
We all cling to the comfort of the old, afraid to drop the heavy old tools we are so familiar with and embrace a collaborative 21st Century tool. By clinging to old technology and not venturing out to try new things, we become weighted down just like carrying a load of bricks where ever we go. If we were to try to jump weighted down with bricks, we do not have the ability to leap for the sky.
As an example, I took a bold new move several years ago when I abandoned my brick of MS Word and took my bold leap into Google Docs.
It started after I had attended the ISTE conference and learned about this new tool. I was at a meeting in school where most people were taking notes in Word, a few even with paper and pencil. I jumped in with a new Google Doc and shared it with one of my colleague's. As the meeting progressed, we together took notes, added links, and even shared ideas by instant messaging on the side of the doc. It ROCKED! When I left the meeting, my notes were not only complete, but the doc was shared with all the people in the room! Everyone had the power to add more content to this document and the doc is always available in the cloud for everyone to access anytime.
Then and there I knew this was a game changer for workflow productivity. The power of many brains on one document was revolutionary. Imagine how teacher collaboration could be transformed if everyone were using Google Docs.
Taking that first step to incorporate a new tool into my routine is vital to continual growth and learning. I am constantly dropping bricks so I can bounce higher and higher into the 22nd century!
I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and dropped the brick of MS Word. Letting go and re-tooling is a must. It’s up to you, are you ready to drop a brick and bounce with me?
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