The part that I really connected with is when he reflected on the workshop he gave:
"I am not certain if the discussion that I had with them that day will stick with them, but I do know that taking that hour before and sharing them “why” we are trying to move forward will definitely increase the percentage of success. As educators (and as people in general), we are always stressed about the amount of time that we have in a day, but as I have been told often, “sometimes we have to go slow, to go fast”. Taking that time to discuss the why was important and needed. It is also a lesson that I can learn greatly from as I continue my own work."
We can apply his view to any decision in education, but especially the use of emerging technologies. Here is my condensed response to his post:
George,
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment of technology professional development opportunities and your statement on the importance of the answering the question “why” are doing what we are doing. As an educator in a school that has moved from one initiative to another in the past 5 years, it has been exhausting and disheartening to start something new only to see it fade away 9 months later. We have been missing the “why” and just focusing on the “how” or “what.” We need to have a strong foundation of “why” we are doing things before we can successfully implement them, not only with respect to emerging technology, but also with what we do on a daily basis. This foundation can then support and sustain our decisions. Alternately, this foundation can also keep us from making random or reactionary decisions as well.
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