Age is Arbitrary!

Important post by Dean Groom on the reality of laptops in the classroom. It's a well thought out list of the top 23 things a teacher needs to know. Here's a highlight that I think especially needs to be stressed:

I don’t know how, I don’t like to, No one has told me … expect that some teachers really do believe that schools never change and will refuse to change their teaching approaches. You won’t get 100% buy in – even if they nod politely in staff meetings – asking for help is challenging for some – and age is no indication of belief and attitude.

Yes! Yes! Yes! We've got to get over the idea that age is everything here.

Hands-down one of the most innovative teachers we've got here on the faculty is a guy who's already retired from a full career in public education.

And come to think of it, many younger teachers may well not want to take their students into the digital landscape for fear of what the students might wind up finding out about the teacher! After all, many of the folks going into teaching now at 22, 23, 24 years old are the same folks who just a few years ago were posting FB pics from college parties.

We've got to get over our assumptions of who 'is' and 'isn't' digitally proficient. There are all sorts of reasons folks either feel comfortable or uncomfortable with technology.

Age is Arbitrary! (if you want it).