E-Portfolios for Learning

Thoughts at 40,000 feet, flying home from visiting a university in Texas (my first professional visit there). I worked with the junior faculty on the first day and with some technology trainers from the local school district on the second day. I was in a lab on the university campus that was half Macs (blue G3s, a gift from SBC in 2000, on OS 9.2 but no iTools installed…not even iMovie 3). The other half of the room was Gateways running Windows 2000. No MovieMaker available.

The technology trainers from the local school district were interested in what I was showing about both e-portfolios and digital storytelling, but they were a PC district, and didn’t do anything with video. I showed them Will Richardson’s video on blogs in high schools, which was a new technology to most of them. After working with teachers in other parts of the country, especially my Alaskan experience, I saw a real difference in how they approached technology use in education. Maybe it was the Mac/PC difference. Maybe it went deeper than that.

I also had a long talk at lunch with some of the faculty today. We were all bemoaning the restrictions on what their student teachers can do in the classrooms with their students: no cooperative learning, no project-based learning. “Drill and kill” through a workbook so that the students will pass the TAAS standardized test. The current climate has taken all of the creativity and joy out of learning. Students need to score higher on those tests, never mind that the tests only cover a small percentage of what an well-rounded person should know and be able to do in today’s society. And it makes school very boring for these kids…and for the teachers as well. We were all frustrated. If this is the “Texas education miracle” I don’t want any part of it.

What is even more frustrating is the gap that is widening between the experiences of so-called “low achievers” who are forced into this mode of learning, when the high achievers in more affluent districts are engaged in more creative activities. If businesses want workers who can think creatively to meet the innovation crisis, they won’t come out of “drill and kill” schools. That further divides the country into “knows and know-nots” which equates to “haves and have-nots.” I am worried… and grateful that my grandchildren are in a very good school in a district in the Northwest. When they called the bill “No Child Left Behind” they couldn’t be farther from the reality that is happening now: those children who are being subjected to all of this drill and testing (assessment OF learning, not assessment FOR learning) are being deprived of the type of education that truly lights the fire of learning, rather than filling their “buckets” of knowledge. I am worried that in the name of NCLB, more children will be left behind the creativity gap. I am upset that Kerry didn’t address this issue in the campaign…letting Bush get away with bragging about his bill that I think is destroying American education. Perhaps I am overreacting. OK, there were some students who were getting through the system without learning to read and write. But why subject all students to this type of instruction, when we could find better ways to meet the needs of those most in need. Perhaps it is the altitude. What else is a blog good for but to let off some steam?!