Skating probably has very little to do with Ed Tech, but there is a science to both. For some odd reason this thought came to my mind as I was reading about the digital equity summit.
A couple of weeks ago I was out with some friends, when one reminded me about the time we went skating in kindergarten. In my mind, I remember the horrible memory of that day. I had double blades to keep my balance and everyone, including her, laughed at me because I did not have the 'right tools'. I went home to my mother and started crying saying that everyone was making fun of me because of my skates. I remember that she took me to the store and bought me my first pair of single blades, they were a used pair nonetheless, but they were single blades and I was thrilled. My dad took me skating that night on my new pair of skates, teaching me how to keep my balance, so that I could 'skate' with my classmates.
Fast forward 23 years, I now speedskate and over the years I have captured two major titles: U.S. Senior National Marathon Champion (twice) and North American Champion in the 25k . My friend who reminded me of that day in kindergarten, still references the story about how you should not make fun of someone who does not have the right tools and finishes the story with, "I didn't think I'd be laughing a National and North American Champion."
So I was thinking about how I could tie this story back to technology education. See the pencil and paper, well those are the double blades, absolutely necessary to keep your balance. The single blades are the schools who provide students with a 21st century education, excellent and will do the job. But what is the cutting edge...? What are the speedskates?
How can we insure that you are giving students an education that is like the 17 inch blades that I race around an oval with?
A couple of weeks ago I was out with some friends, when one reminded me about the time we went skating in kindergarten. In my mind, I remember the horrible memory of that day. I had double blades to keep my balance and everyone, including her, laughed at me because I did not have the 'right tools'. I went home to my mother and started crying saying that everyone was making fun of me because of my skates. I remember that she took me to the store and bought me my first pair of single blades, they were a used pair nonetheless, but they were single blades and I was thrilled. My dad took me skating that night on my new pair of skates, teaching me how to keep my balance, so that I could 'skate' with my classmates.
Fast forward 23 years, I now speedskate and over the years I have captured two major titles: U.S. Senior National Marathon Champion (twice) and North American Champion in the 25k . My friend who reminded me of that day in kindergarten, still references the story about how you should not make fun of someone who does not have the right tools and finishes the story with, "I didn't think I'd be laughing a National and North American Champion."
So I was thinking about how I could tie this story back to technology education. See the pencil and paper, well those are the double blades, absolutely necessary to keep your balance. The single blades are the schools who provide students with a 21st century education, excellent and will do the job. But what is the cutting edge...? What are the speedskates?
How can we insure that you are giving students an education that is like the 17 inch blades that I race around an oval with?
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