Preparing to Teach Digitally

Have you heard the news? The entire public school system in Oregon has opened up the option for schools to use Google Apps for Education.

Mashable and others are highlighting some of the benefits of Google's free suite of applications (like secure e-mail, shared documents, video, and forums): it's cost-effective; students are engaged, leading to achievement gains; and it teaches skills kids need in college and careers.

But like a lot of stories about technology in the classroom, there's a teacher-size hole in this one. How are Oregon school leaders systematically preparing teachers to use Google Apps for Education? How are teachers writing great lessons using Google?

Ironically, around the same time the news in Oregon broke, we were talking to Bill Ferriter (@plugusin) about his latest Digitally Speaking column for Educational Leadership, "Preparing to Teach Digitally": 

plugusin    @ASCD_Inservice: I think the hope we place in digital tools—instead of in teachers using digital tools—is discouraging.

plugusin    @ASCD_Inservice: Tools don't engage learners.

plugusin    @ASCD_Inservice: Good lessons—built from an understanding of students and content and delivered by good teachers—engage learners.

plugusin    @ASCD_Inservice: Granted, tools can be used to make engaging lessons easier and to make learning more efficient.

plugusin    @ASCD_Inservice: But without a good teacher making decisions based on their knowledge of kids, content and instruction, tools are useless.

"Preparing to Teach Digitally" includes ideas for getting started with digital tools in the classroom, but at its core, it's all about putting those tools in the hands of teachers adept at differentiating instruction and customizing learning.

Ferriter's article demonstrates that, while what's happening in Oregon is exciting, the real story is what teachers, and their students, do with new technology.