Brick and Mortar Debate

I went to the Bricks and Mortar Debate (in other words, should we have physical school buildings or go completely online). What was very striking in this debate was the comments made by Gary S. Stager (http://www.stager.org/). The primary point that I took away from this is that we need to be very careful not to implement technologies that simply make ineffective ways of teaching "slicker". One point he made was that white boards simply digitize the teacher as the lecturer - not building students as self-directed learners.

Reminds me again that responsible purchasing of technology in TISD is dependent on the changes and innovations that occur in instruction. If a teacher is still the "sage on the stage" -lecturing students instead of letting students actively engage, it doesn't matter what technology you add. The technology can enhance and faciliate instruction - bringing it to the 21st century, but the teacher has to be willing to take the risk and create that learning environment.