Education Technology – My Journey

So this week the hits against education keep on coming. I am not going to claim that the education system in America is perfect and that we don't need to work on it. The high school dropout rate is too high, the college drop out rate is too high, and the number of students graduating with STEM degrees too low. Debates should be occurring concerning the role of standardized testing, school funding, teacher pay and accreditation, as well as the core curriculum; what should not be occurring is a debate concerning if our children should go to college. Now, not everyone wants to or should attend 4 year colleges, there are those with other gifts, other dreams and other paths to follow, but not going to college should be a decision based on individualized goals, not on the lack access. This week Rick Santorum claimed that "The indoctrination that is going on at the university level is a harm to our country" and that wanting students to go to college makes you a "snob."

I'm a couple of days late blogging about this, but somehow I just found out about it. February 7, 2012 marked an international event known as Safer Internet Day (SID). This event is held on the 2nd day, of the 2nd week, of the 2nd month every year since 2004 (http://www.saferinternetday.org/web/guest/sid-2012). This years SID was entitled Connecting generations and educating each other , with the slogan: "Discover the digital world together... safely!" As educators we often talk about the opportunities brought through the the Internet and Web 2.0 technologies but we don't always fully express the danger or the personal responsibility we each have. There is a real danger in posting an inappropriate picture of yourself, or in cyber bullying. There are real predators and scam artists out there, and they are not always obvious. Maybe some of us do talk about it, in our role as educator or parent, but how often do we do it in such a way that people really pay attention? I&