Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Laugh to keep from crying....

I ran across this comic strip today......

(click comic to view full size)

It made me ponder the paradox of technology in our schools.

My local school system is in the process of building a new middle school and remodeling the old high school and middle schools. The have a blog for the public and contractors to use.

Although the corporation office and the superintendent are making a great use of technology and the read-write web, the individual schools are a different story. The gatekeepers have blocked some of the most useful learning tools. Teachers and students have to find 'work-arounds' to access what they need. Substitute teachers have zero web access.

I hope that one day we all can look back on the above cartoon and laugh, "I remember when the useful parts of the internet used to be filtered."


It is hard to build the future when someone keeps locking the toolbox.

Link to original comic

4 comments:

Clif Mims said...

"It is hard to build the future when someone keeps locking the toolbox."

Good comic, nice thoughts, and I like your final statement.

Susan Myers said...

I agree 100%. They have locked the toolbox. So, what can we do to get it unlocked?

Natalie Wojinski said...

Isn't this the truth? Sometimes the toolbox gets left unlocked and you're able to grab a great tool for the job, but then the lid smashes your hand. It is frustrating. Maybe, as more and more students have web access on their personal phones, this problem will go away. I was perusing an Ed Tech magazine the other day looking at recommended sites. As I read my response was "blocked, blocked, will be blocked when they figure out what it does, blocked..." I hope we will see the day soon when we can laugh and say "I remember when..."

David Truss said...

Great cartoon!
Thought I'd share this with you... a little 'Warning Poster' I made with a slightly different approach to the same issue: http://www.flickr.com/photos/datruss/4408321697/
Thanks for sharing!
~Dave.