Golden shovels and crayons
Look at the beautiful shovel!
Have I ever mentioned how much I love Michael Doyle? His science class must be one of the funnest places to be for a student.
I’ve been writing forever on my wariness of technology as the golden egg, about how digital literacy is but a means to an end, not the doorway to a utopic state of education.
And Michael sums it all up better than I ever have.
Here you go, from The Cost of Tools by Michael Doyle.
I love toolboxes, I have several in my basement. If you want to make me happy, buy me a toolbox for my birthday, loaded with tools.
If you want to disappoint me, however, buy me a gold-plated heavy duty shovel and expect me to use it on my next project, no matter what that project is.
and….
The best teachers I know can squeeze their lessons into just about any new technology thrown down from on high. The best teachers I know can teach the same lessons just as well using a crayon on the back of a paper towel.