Monday, November 11, 2013

Imagine

Imagine a revolutionary period where key personalities, just-right circumstances and strategic technological innovations all align to create a climate so ripe and pregnant that it births a Great Divide, changing the world forever. Imagine living in such a moment in time when the social, political, cultural and economic landscape around us is altered significantly, an event that brings about deep and long-lasting change, transforming life as we know it. Imagine also an aftermath where information spreads quickly and cheaply to vast audiences and the communications paradigm rapidly transforms itself through several modes, each bringing with it a whole new mind. Imagine a change so powerful that it escalates to proportions that can only be described in terms of the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution and the Great Reformation. Imagine, then, a radical shift that allows people to connect beyond the usual boundaries of time and geography, ushering in a new connectivity never experienced before. Imagine the upheaval, the distress, the mistrust and also the tremendous opportunities. Imagine, if you would, the greatest innovation since the invention of the wheel … the Internet.

Actually, the last statement is not entirely true. The Internet, though a good guess, was recently only voted the 9th greatest invention (Fallows, The Atlantic). The all-encompassing change and radical impact I describe above is really a summary of my research on another significant invention from six centuries ago - the printing press. It certainly sounds like the Digital Divide we've all come to experience over the last few decades. When Johan Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1430’s, he not only unlocked script to replicate knowledge, but simultaneously triggered a series of print mutations releasing a new strain of information and a new paradigm of learning. It went viral, causing a learning revolution that reproduced both good and evil. And that is exactly my point. Because we have the benefit of hindsight we tend to overlook the maladies of print (propaganda, for example) and rather celebrate healthy indicators like the freedom of the press. The Internet, however, still carries a bleak prognosis, metastasized with large and obvious tumors. And rightly so, but I genuinely believe society is at a juncture (again) and a choice is forced upon us to make progress.

Innovation experts today believe the World Wide Web and the multiple mobile devices by which we access it, are radically changing our world, as well as our educational institutions. Every administrator worth his/her salt must give serious consideration to the implications of social and academic life in the schools of the future. We have to stay relevant in our commitment to digital citizenship without compromising sound pedagogy and continue to uphold and follow a balanced curriculum (e.g. outdoor education).  

I intend to write more about the use of educational technology in upcoming posts, but for now we can take comfort in the fact that those who have gone before us were not intimidated. They courageously carved out pathways of learning and were rewarded with the Renaissance. Equally encouraging is the fact that many others are pioneering what learning could look like in the 21st Century. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel, just adopt the can-do attitude of those who harnessed the power of the printing press for good … if we educate the heart, which requires invention on a whole new level!