Robotic teachers

Working with a group of elementary students recently, I asked what jobs will be gone in the next ten years. One answer resonated with me for obvious reasons, teachers will be gone was their reply. Upon further investigation they did not believe schools would be gone, just teachers. Teachers would be replaced by robots.

When I think of the technology usage seen in a multitude of schools, there is always a sense of frustration. Is the technology being used for a good educational purposes? Or Is it being used for substitution, digital pacifying or behavior management? We want it to be taking students to places they can't possibly go without it.

Back to the students comments, what does this say about their opinion of educators? Think about it from this perspective, the robots students know today are very mechanical. They perform specific programed tasks. A robot vacuum is simple example, C3PO brings a more life-like sample to mind. Teachers are mechanical, in some students minds, they deliver content, they monitor them and than they test us. Is that what a teacher really is?

Teachers are continually striving to use technology better but we can't beat a computer at what it is best at. My continued conversations with teachers help highlight this idea. Technology is a tool and tools don't replace the operator, if used correctly. What is correctly? If the classroom is about delivering content in order to pass a test, than technology can replace us. Teachers need to start pondering if using technology is as important as questioning it? Why does my search on Google return these results? Why does my page generate these possible ads? Why does it say these people might be worth following? Using technology is becoming more and more ubiquitous and children are being more conditioned, as all of us are, to simply do what technology tells without questioning how that happened. A good example is navigation systems. Have you ever gone to the wrong location, when your instincts were telling you it was wrong, simply because that's where the digital navigation system told you to go? Next time you are headed home from work or a store, get directions from your digital device. Does it take you the way you would go? Does it take you a way that you hadn't thought of? These are the questions we need students to understand instead of the simpleness of using technology?

When thinking about what we do, how do you answer these questions?

Could you be replaced by a robot in your class today, this week, the year?

              Do your students think so?

How can you be what technology and computers aren't?

Are you helping students understand the world they live in and the technology around them? Are you helping them create questions about it?

If you feel like commenting that would be awesome....if you feel like tweeting, be brave and lets use #Notrobotteach for the tag.


Be what we are...people and use the passion that brought you into education to make it the remarkable experience are kids deserve.

Reflection and looking forward

It has been a little over two years since my last blog post.  One of  the cool parts of a blog is that it also acts like a journal.  In five years of blogging as inspiration hit, I posted thoughts on various topics.  Looking back over those post, there is both disappointment and excitement.

Educationally, the world moves slowly. Some things have changed but so much has barely moved.

In the last few years, I  had the opportunity to lead change from the district office level.  Leading a district to be more open with communication was rewarding.  Using social media to open up conversations with some of our more vocal and hidden shareholders led to greater transparency.  School board member now actively reach out to all stake holders.  Schools regularly share daily happening and parents are interested.

We had the chance to step back from a 1:1 movement of one size fit all to a purposeful technology deployment.  Opening up our network so student devices could more easily be used was a beginning step.  Working with teachers to find out what students needed to be able to be a great student changed the view that technology was being done to them.

Was any part of change easy?  No.  It was amazing to see how fast technology used in very basic ways can become acceptable.  Technology that makes classroom management easier but takes the classroom no further than traditional means is not a great use of educational dollars for sure.

As I look back, I reflect on the changes that can be made and the changes we choose not to make.

Moving forward:

I will strive to find and share posts and thoughts that keep challenging us all.  I hope you go back and read some previous post, go to your favorite blogs and look at some of their early post and see just how much your classroom, school or district has changed.

I hope we all find renewed motivation to keep our children in mind.  They are calling from the future and hoping we fight for improvements to better help them prepare for a very exciting future.

If not now.....when