Technology & Learning - April 2009 - (Page 42) THEY SAID IT PHOTO: EVAN BADEN, WWW.EVANBADEN.COM Practicing What You Preach By Bob Sprankle If I were in a rut, or bored, or on summer break, then I suppose deciding to take the time to learn a new operating system would make sense. But no: these days I’m up to my ears in work, buried in a demanding (but satisfying) online class, reading four (great) books, getting hooked on the game “Left4Dead,” and nursing a kid who’s upstairs sick in bed. So what do I do? I decide to learn a new operating system. Go figure. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time, because I truly believe that Linux is the OS of our future (though they will still have to pry Mac from my cold, dead fingers). People I trust also keep telling me that Linux has come a long way and is much more user-friendly. I must adopt, adapt, transform—in other words, get with the program. Also, I sometimes feel the need to put myself at square one. Leave my comfort zone, parachute down into the unknown jungle with nothing but a few sketchy tutorials, and claw my way to a new civilization. Why? Because that’s what I ask my students to do every day in the computer lab. As teachers, do we sometimes forget this? Do we just expect every student to climb aboard and understand what we teach them? Are we so comfortable with the content that we have a difficult time recognizing when students aren’t? Going back to square one is difficult for instructors after all the time they’ve spent immersed in their particular disciplines. It’s hard to remember what it felt like when it was overwhelming and confusing to us, what it felt like at the beginning. How do we maintain that affinity and empathy for novices? So I’m not finished at all. I’m just beginning. And tomorrow when I walk back into the computer lab, it will be with the humble recognition that I am no expert at all, and I’ll be able to serve my students better with my improved and renewed affinity. Visit www.techlearning.com/forum.aspx to share your opinion. 42 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.techlearning.com/forum.aspx
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