Tech Director Chat #011 – Ben’s Turn on the Hot Seat

I didn’t really appreciate the anxiety-filled position I was putting my Tech Director in each week in front of the microphone for this podcast. I don’t let him preview the questions; no prep, no word-smithing the perfect answer to a question, just a “think on your feet” response to questions. I didn’t appreciate that situation until he turned a question on me in this episode. It was a question that I’ve been thinking about a lot, but wasn’t quite ready to articulate. I think I took a good swing at it, but whiffed on his question about whether the majority of teachers will ever get passed the basic level of technology substituting other instructional methods using paper and pencil.

My short answer….no. My longer answer….maybe. Once most schools have technology readily available, many practices that we’re currently pioneering will become commonplace. it will become status quo for students to word process every thought rather than writing. Which means digital writing, collaborating, and sharing will eventually be the new normal and thus will be ripe for substitution with future technologies and/or pedagogical practices (video, augmented reality, etc.). Like I said, it’s a complicated thought that I think I flubbed. Oh well, there’s always room to improve!

As always, you can listen to, download, or subscribe to the podcast using this link. Or listen below!

Timestamps for this week’s questions:

0:56 What has Pete been up to?

2:21 What does an exploding projector bulb sounds like?

3:00 Ben has opened the flood gate of questions by sending the podcast to all district employees.

4:16 JW asks, what is the big picture goal for teacher technology use in the classroom?

7:32 Pete asks Ben, how long do you think it will take until a majority of people are using technology for more than simple substitution?

11:20 John asks, why do some wifi routers behave differently for filtering?

14:50 John wants to know, can he have an Apple TV?

16:40 Kathleen asks, what would your ideal new elementary building look like?

20:45 Paul from Twitter asks, why are URL shorteners blocked by filters?

22:18 Stump Pete!

24:11 Kathleen asks, who was more influential to early Rock and Roll?

Tech Director Chat – Ben’s Turn in the Hot Seat