Ben Wilkoff has become my new "common sense meets big picture" hero du jour. [Thanks to Patrick Higgins, Jr. for Twittering about Ben's post tonight that led me there]. If you need to know why but don't have time to read the rest of my banter, simply go to his post entitled "The Ripe Environment". All the rest I'm gonna add is idle chit chat. Except that I specifically brag about Ben's writing down below in more detail.
Disclaimer: I'm not a geek. Not in the "actually knows much about how to use tools well" camp. Forget coding. Even making my handheld PC just synch with my laptop. Get light-headed even thinking about it. Sure, I'm a geek-in-spirit because of what I see as a remarkable airspace of ideas/technologies that are transforming what we know can occur in a learning environment. But I'm hardly a geek. A geek-wanna-be, sure, but not one in talent nor instinct. [It is one reason that I spend so much time reading so many really bright geeks because I need to learn in language, even if I can't figure out the literal time-modification on the VCR -- yes, still have one -- yet!]
Here is what Ben wrote in "The Ripe Environment" that made me sit back with my fruit smoothie in hand tonight and say a little "Amen" to whomever walked by. Nobody walked by, but I still said it. Ben wrote:
I am tired of talking about the tools.
Many of us have been talking about the tools for a long time now. We have said that using technology for technology’s sake is counterproductive. We want to use technology as a tool, right? But the tools for collaborating and creating are the largest sticking points for others.
Okay, I'm listening. And nodding. And listen-nodding.
Teachers get caught up on jargon, on the basic skills of one program or process. They are still so focused on “podcasting” or “dreamweaver” that there is no room for creating the environment in which people will actually want to go beyond the tools, into true learning (you know, what we want our kids to be doing).
Again, well said, Ben! Heck, I get "podcasting" but if I was a first-timer, the "whyshouldIcare" meter would be raging at the high end of the scale. And by sheer force of will -- and a few professional pressures -- I've figurded out how to mess around with HTML and a few other very geeky things that previously were sci-fi to me. But as you said, people "get caught up in the jargon". And then learning shuts down. Geeks get it. Non-geeks don't. But in between is the area where we need it to work for the masses. Esp. if we have ANY hope of any version of School 1.0000001 to School 2.0 to actually surface in any foreseeable future.
Ben continues...and adds a semantic spin to my vocabulary that will have lasting impact for much time to come:
What, then, is beyond the tools? What should we really be reaching for?
The Ripe Environment.
The simultaneous personal and public experience of using all of the tools at the teacher’s disposal to tear down walls, collaborate with each another, and question the traditional role of technology in the classroom.
So, how do we get to The Ripe Environment?
Ahhhh. Ahhhh. Ahhh.
And if you want to get a better sense of Ben's thinking groove as to what he means by "The Ripe Environment", check out his post. I cut off the quotation just when he gets warmed up.
And give him a little comment love when you can. Jargon aside -- which "The Ripe Environment" could easily become in time -- it hits at the heart of what we all know to be true. Tools are tools. At best. And whenever we become lost in 2.0 debate or touch screening or firewall philosophy, it's a healthy reminder that we are charged to do something better than just be great with gadgets.
We're charged to make our classrooms, schools, and even blogs "ripe environments" for learning. And if we can bring a few tools along for the ride, all the better.
Thanks so much for writing about my post. I really would like to start debating the creation of the environment, rather than which tools to use or which ones to teach others about. We need to get others to want to learn for themselves. I'm hoping to outline each of the ten prerequisites for The Ripe Environment in the next couple of weeks. I hope that you keep thinking about it, and please keep writing about it. It is the only way that change will occur. Thanks again for the blog love. I have really enjoyed finding your blog.
Posted by: Ben Wilkoff | July 02, 2007 at 10:14 AM
As someone who was terrible with 'technology' as a classroom teacher and someone who spent the last 3 years working closely with global school designers, I deeply appreciate your reminder that the "ripe environment" is the key to everything, along with the human relationships between learners/learners, teachers/learners, and teachers/teachers.
Keep up the great work! Cheers, Christian
Posted by: Christian Long | July 03, 2007 at 12:07 AM