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Just like Driving a Car
Posted by Unknown
on
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Yesterday at school a teacher asked me if I could show her a tutorial for Google Apps. It was a very innocent, normal question asked to a Technology Coach at a school. A funny feeling came over me upon hearing this query. I had a whirlwind of emotions based on that single question. The emotional reaction is what prompted me to write this blog. My first reaction was I felt overwhelmed. How could I possibly show just one tutorial that would cover all of the possibilities with Google Apps? Secondly, I felt inadequate. Why had I not produced this tutorial already in my capacity as a Technology Coach and what had I been doing these past 2 years that this teacher asked this question? And finally, I felt angry. Why can't that teacher just Google it?
All of those emotional reactions were unjustified and the teacher was merely asking for help. In my defense, it was late on Friday afternoon. Regardless, I decided I needed to analyze why I had such bizarre gut reactions to the question.
For me, the question asked by the teacher is analogous to a 15 year old teenager asking her parents for the manual on how to drive a car as a substitute for actually learning to drive in a car with her parents. Google Apps is far more than just a personal productivity software package, which is what MS Office has been for teacher for many years. Google Apps is different, and in my mind, it requires careful handling, and "on the road" learning when starting implementation in the classroom.
I'm certainly not saying a tutorial wouldn't be helpful. Not at all. But what is perhaps, unfortunate, is how many teachers still see the same static, individual document production that has been a part of our academic lives with the basic word processing software we've come to use daily. I've know teachers convinced that student writing should be perfected on a specific date and that they will not need to see any of the writing beforehand. They have never witnessed the power of real time digital editing, monitoring, and guidance through the writing process using a Google doc. They haven't conceived of a document that lives, changes and improves over time.
Back to the car analogy. Everyone is aware that a 16 year old on the road, even after they have a license, is still not the highly tuned, careful driver they will become later. Familiarity with what is possible on the road leads to more acute awareness. And there lies the similarity to implementing a truly cloud based learning structure. It takes time, familiarity, and miles on the road. That second nature of knowing when to start breaking and at what speed and distance comes later; not in the beginning. Knowing how to handle applications in the Google Suite and when to use the features, is acquired knowledge as well.
I must now part with my original analogy in that, most teens have excellent models in their parents that have been driving them around since infancy. These adult drivers have modeled good driving technique (or so we hope) for 15 years. Teachers, however, have not really witnessed Google Apps in the classroom. They haven't even seen poor implementation. So when they get the urge to try it out, the only model they have is the familiar MS Office model, which is an individually owned software package used to create individual files to be distributed as finished products. And the fact that we have been attempting to create finished products for so many years is the absolute key difference.
A Google document is never truly finished. This is a whole new paradigm shift. There is no longer a set point in time but rather a continuum. And isn't learning really just that? A continuum? An always changing, developing sequence? Sure teachers can require set points in time for assessment but they are not the way the brain works, just our imposed requirements on the system. In other words, we give final exams which are set points in time. This does not mean that students stop learning at that point. They are not a "finished product" just because they scored a passing score on a test. With the collaborative nature of the Googleverse, the learning continues, the documents evolve and the teacher weaves in and out of the system, seamlessly providing guidance and feedback during the learning process.
Now I turn back to the original topic of the teacher who just wants to learn a bit about Google Apps. I want to help but I think she needs to see just how amazing it is to drive down the highway first. She needs to see students who are collaborating in real time and asking questions through comments. She needs to see students who are accessing their work on their phones, anywhere. She needs to see students who are sharing ideas with other students across the globe and instantly translating. She needs to see students designing together better models to help our world. She needs to see schools that have been using Google Apps for a decade and know the potential can change our education system into something that is real and meaningful for students. Those student will be in my school, in abundance, in just a few of years. They will be the skilled drivers of tomorrow. And they will take the teachers with them on the ride. I'll just be there on the side of the road, directing traffic.
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All of those emotional reactions were unjustified and the teacher was merely asking for help. In my defense, it was late on Friday afternoon. Regardless, I decided I needed to analyze why I had such bizarre gut reactions to the question.
For me, the question asked by the teacher is analogous to a 15 year old teenager asking her parents for the manual on how to drive a car as a substitute for actually learning to drive in a car with her parents. Google Apps is far more than just a personal productivity software package, which is what MS Office has been for teacher for many years. Google Apps is different, and in my mind, it requires careful handling, and "on the road" learning when starting implementation in the classroom.
I'm certainly not saying a tutorial wouldn't be helpful. Not at all. But what is perhaps, unfortunate, is how many teachers still see the same static, individual document production that has been a part of our academic lives with the basic word processing software we've come to use daily. I've know teachers convinced that student writing should be perfected on a specific date and that they will not need to see any of the writing beforehand. They have never witnessed the power of real time digital editing, monitoring, and guidance through the writing process using a Google doc. They haven't conceived of a document that lives, changes and improves over time.
Back to the car analogy. Everyone is aware that a 16 year old on the road, even after they have a license, is still not the highly tuned, careful driver they will become later. Familiarity with what is possible on the road leads to more acute awareness. And there lies the similarity to implementing a truly cloud based learning structure. It takes time, familiarity, and miles on the road. That second nature of knowing when to start breaking and at what speed and distance comes later; not in the beginning. Knowing how to handle applications in the Google Suite and when to use the features, is acquired knowledge as well.
I must now part with my original analogy in that, most teens have excellent models in their parents that have been driving them around since infancy. These adult drivers have modeled good driving technique (or so we hope) for 15 years. Teachers, however, have not really witnessed Google Apps in the classroom. They haven't even seen poor implementation. So when they get the urge to try it out, the only model they have is the familiar MS Office model, which is an individually owned software package used to create individual files to be distributed as finished products. And the fact that we have been attempting to create finished products for so many years is the absolute key difference.
A Google document is never truly finished. This is a whole new paradigm shift. There is no longer a set point in time but rather a continuum. And isn't learning really just that? A continuum? An always changing, developing sequence? Sure teachers can require set points in time for assessment but they are not the way the brain works, just our imposed requirements on the system. In other words, we give final exams which are set points in time. This does not mean that students stop learning at that point. They are not a "finished product" just because they scored a passing score on a test. With the collaborative nature of the Googleverse, the learning continues, the documents evolve and the teacher weaves in and out of the system, seamlessly providing guidance and feedback during the learning process.
Now I turn back to the original topic of the teacher who just wants to learn a bit about Google Apps. I want to help but I think she needs to see just how amazing it is to drive down the highway first. She needs to see students who are collaborating in real time and asking questions through comments. She needs to see students who are accessing their work on their phones, anywhere. She needs to see students who are sharing ideas with other students across the globe and instantly translating. She needs to see students designing together better models to help our world. She needs to see schools that have been using Google Apps for a decade and know the potential can change our education system into something that is real and meaningful for students. Those student will be in my school, in abundance, in just a few of years. They will be the skilled drivers of tomorrow. And they will take the teachers with them on the ride. I'll just be there on the side of the road, directing traffic.
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