Mr. School Bureaucrat, Tear Down That Wall!

Recently Gardner Campbell and I were tweeting about the myopic view that some public school officials have about the Internet. 

It’s amazing that in todays world there are school officials that don’t see the value in using the collaborative and experiential aspects of the Internet to create a more engaged and excited student.  In Henrico County  they provide Apple Macintosh laptops for all of the middle school students and Dell Laptops for the high school students. An amazing feat all on its own.  But then they hamper the students usage blocking the use of google search and they talk down (or outright ignore) the value of wikipedia. 

Back in February 2007 Wesley Fryer on the www.techlearning.com blog had this insight into schools blocking Google:

Working online without Google is analogous to someone trying to swim without using their arms and just kicking their feet. It may be possible, but you certainly won’t go very far or acquire the skills you’ll need to be proficient in the open water of the “real world” outside of the pool or the school.

It’s time to devise ways to elevate our students and make them net savvy.  Let’s work to create a more engaged student. Let them discover the value and fun of learning. Lets not put road blocks in their way. 

Let me know how your school district embraces or denies the reality of our modern world!

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