Mr. Richardson led off with plenty of stories and statistics that prove we are living through a threshold moment with respect to technology in education. The most salient of his descriptions were accompanied by two graphs he showed the audience. In fact, he showed us these with his hands, because the power went out at Renbrook so he couldn’t project his presentation on technology (oh, the irony). Therefore, Mr. Richardson physically pointed to the grey area in between the graphs of rising college costs, and of the decreasing costs regarding access to information. There he argued, something must change. And, while Mr. Richardson had ideas on how that space would be filled, both answering questions on digital badges and addressing how he encourages his own children to think outside the traditional college model, he allowed the audience members to consider this changing landscape for themselves.
The second fascinating statistic he shared, again with his hands, was that in the fourth grade student interest in school is at its peak, and it only decreases from there. Clearly, schools and teachers need to adapt, especially if they can’t increase student interest beyond the fourth grade. Mr. Richardson pointed out the fact that children don’t need school to learn, a four year old spends their whole day learning. His presentation begged the question, why send students to school beyond the fourth grade, when they are less interested and when they can learn on their own?
After detailing the issues facing schools today, Mr. Richardson advocated for some solutions that are currently being discussed in education. He argued in favor of inquiry-based or project-based instruction, a passion-based curriculum, and personal learning networks (PLNs), citing examples and/or success stories in each of these areas. But, for the educators in the room, he made it even simpler. He detailed five steps teachers can take, today, to benefit their students.
- Understand this moment.
- Acknowledge the fear and discuss it.
- Evaluate your own practice, and consider changes.
- Act on these changes.
- Scream at people! In other words, engage others in this dialogue.
After a vibrant presentation (so vibrant that power returned to the cafeteria), Mr. Richardson took questions from a diverse audience of educators and parents. Though some asked questions about his views on the future of education as a means of improving their own teaching or parenting style, some parents tried to poke holes in his arguments.
Audience members argued that Mr. Richardson’s ideas would hurt their child or students’ ability to benefit from face-to-face conversations. However, throughout the presentation, Mr. Richardson made it quite clear that a balanced approach was most important. He even admitted he shuts his own internet off every evening at 9 PM!
Many parents also claimed that the school in which their students were enrolled did a better job teaching character, and giving feedback about their child’s habits and behaviors. To save his own skin, Mr. Richardson reassured them that while some teachers and schools are effective, they are in the minority. He admitted that in his seven years traveling and discussing technology in education, he only saw pockets of schools and teachers integrating technology successfully. And then, once again, he repeated that character development and face-to-face conversations are important, they just don’t have to occur in this institution called school, something that has been static in our society for 125 years. Time and again, he invited the audience to employ their own critical thinking skills to the problems addressed.
I’m overjoyed that Mr. Richardson came to the Hartford area and that Renbrook was willing to open up his presentation to the community. I learned lots of valuable information about how to integrate technology in schools. While it was easy for me to agree with most of his points, his presentation forced me to reconsider what I am doing in my own classroom, and double-down on the things that are keeping students engaged and ahead of the times. These are the innovative assignments and uncomfortable discussions that invigorate students, that teach them how to think about the world they will inherit and that require them to develop skills which will help them succeed in the professional world. Lastly, after hearing Mr. Richardson speak, I can more easily articulate the problems facing our schools and more easily offer solutions, even to teachers who are not as interested in the topic as I am.
