11 Tech Tools or/and Learning?

The middle school that I now work in is a part of the new roll out of tech tools; iPads and laptops will go into each classroom.  As a result of that roll out, all of the teachers in the building MUST take a class called 11 Tools.  It is a scripted set of instructions for using different technology tools.  It is called 11 tools but includes many more than 11.  Each assignment incorporates multiple tools but focuses on a single idea.  It is well written with many short instructional videos that help those of us who are not intuitive with technology.  The Ed Tech folks even offer face-to-face tutorials to help the learner move past any areas of confusion.  At some points in the training the learner may choose the tools to use as well as how to demonstrate her or his learning.

I cannot say that I have been excited to do this, but I haven't felt overwhelmed either.  I was stuck for a while on how to download a video to the required blog, but Karen helped me past that easily.  After working with help this morning, I returned to my office ready to work on how to build a glogster, or is it called a glog?  I had attended a session on glogster at ISTE and wanted to build it into my set of tech tools to use for the coming year.

While setting up a page is fairly simple, I want to add video to the page.  I have not figured that out yet--the one's I downloaded from youtube don't show up when I go to upload--but I found something much more important than a tech tool.  I found an endless list of interviews with published authors.

Is this what Technology for Learning really is?  I have been uncomfortable with the pressure to learn tool after tool after tool after tool.  I have wondered what mattered more, pedagogy or content or enthusiasm or tech tools.  Actually I am uncomfortable with what I perceive to be most important.   Does one force someone to learn 11 tools or 25 tools or 2000 tools--I am certain that there are many more than 2000 to learn?  It is the dip into the water that pulls the learner in.  The excitement of the new knowledge in a field of interest rather than the next "tool" to learn on a machine, unless, of course, that is your field of interest.  Maybe that is an old lady perspective on learning, but finding and watching those videos excites me.  Idea after idea after idea have popped into my head on ways to use the videos, on new ways to teach, on ways to encourage the reluctant writer, on and on and on.  This is the feeling about learning that I hope to generate in the teachers and the students with whom I get to work next year.

A conflict--the tools led me to this new and fabulous resource, but the forced march from tool to tool to tool does not generate excitement in me for learning them.  I wonder how the teachers are feeling about the tools? We will see if this really opened doors to using technology.  I am going back to view authormagazine.org.  It sounded like an excellent opportunity to learn even more about writing.  Exciting!