I remember stories growing up of my father being taught to swim by his brothers. Basically, they took him to the middle of a lake and threw him out of the boat. Swim or drown was the option -- he chose to swim.
Because of that, in all my recollections of my father, I do not remember him ever enjoying swimming.
On the other hand, my 2 sisters and I were taken to swimming lessons each summer and we would go swimming at the El Camino college pool often and to this day, I enjoy swimming. Very much.
Why do I tell this story -- because I see the same thing happening in our "network" of educators using and teaching the tools of tech and I am not quite sure how to stop what seems is occuring.
Within the last few weeks I have led a few inservices and attended a conference, and see that there is a huge divide growing between the tools that are available and the basic skill level of the person we are talking to.
We are showcasing flickr and skype and wikis and blogs and this and this and this tool............& some (sometimes most) of the listeners don't even know how to type in a url, where to type in a url, where start is, how to double click (let alone right click), or even how to _________________________________________. (you can fill in the blank.)
We talk about what not to do within powerpoint to teachers who don't even know how to open powerpoint or what powerpoint is. We talk about editing a wiki to people who don't even know where to find the log on button. We jump into conversations of the power of skype, and forget about the trickiness of getting your mic configured to work with skype. We showcase how to collaborate with classrooms across thw world to teachers who don't even chat with the teacher next door.
I know that the recent conference in Shanghai did a very good job at making a bridge across the chasm. by having many unconference sessions (many for the newbie)....but I also know, after talking to one of the session leaders, that when discussing Web 2.0, he was surprised at how many people had not even heard of it or the tools available.
We continue to seem to be here on this side of the chasm, while our audience is on the other side, looking for the bridge to get across. I also know that I assume that everyone is at my comfort level and I often miss some of the fundamentals, the basics, the beginnings. At a recent conference, I heard a wonderful session shared (at which every step I knew exactly where the leader was) and at the very end, the question asked was "How did you get to get to that first page?"
And I think we go to fast.........and leave people in the dust. Frustrated, feeling stupid because they don't get it, and chalking it up to "I just am not one to use tech." And I know I am guilty of this too.
So what do we do...............how to we meet both sides of the chasm? How do we not just throw people into the water and expect them to swim without being taught the basics? And I guess, I am wondering, what are the basics that need to be givens???
That is my quandry this week.
I would appreciate your thoughts too.
Jen