Too Far Out There?

I'm sitting here in a daze. I just got some feedback from someone who has been traveling around the state talking to school districts about networks, wiring closets, etc etc. During his conversations he's been mentioning my services. I was very pleased to hear that they knew of me. A good thing. But, they say that I'm "... so far out there and they were no where near ready to implement any of that stuff. They couldn't even relate to getting it" (This is how it was put to me this evening.)

What? Too far out there? I show examples of student and teacher blogs and I suggest that authentic audiences would be a VERY high motivation factor for students when they write. I show the Flat World Wikis and the Horizon Project wikis as examples of collaboration ideas. I show skype and talk about how it can be used to bring authors into class. I ask them how their students manage the resources they find when doing online research, and when nobody has ANY idea how the kids manage their resources, I show them Diigo and talk about the wonderful enhancements it makes to their classes. I talk about using a Discussion forum to allow kids to carry on conversations about their content after the class period or even the unit of study ends. I talk about the Creative Commons. I demo google docs and a form with some data being plotted while they submit the forms and I talk about how using Google Docs (or Office Live) solves so many problems that they have with regard to how kids collaborate or how they transport files, etc. I show them what an important tool an aggregator is - both for them and for their students. I show them how to search. These are ALL skills that carry forward with the student through their college lives and even their personal lives, wouldn't you agree?

So, I don't get it. What am I supposed to do? Go in there and say, "Hey, nice work on that PowerPoint stuff, guys." Or, "Check it! I can show you how to automate the process of making worksheets." If we DON'T talk about this, how do they expect to EVER see anything different? Has the bar been raised then Super Glued at the level of PowerPoint, and that's just fine with us, thank you very much?

If not now, WHEN, for crying out loud? If not THIS school, then WHICH school? I REFUSE to even consider the notion that what we see now in the schools in terms of technology use is as good as it can get. But, they say I'm too far out there? They're not ready for that, yet? THEN WHEN WILL THEY BE READY TO AT LEAST HEAR ABOUT IT??

I watched students researching on their laptops, then printing the pages they found, and then using the highlighters from the teacher's desk to highlight the important stuff. And yet they don't want to hear about Diigo? I watched kids getting back their writing assignments and tossing them in the garbage can, but they don't want to hear about blogging? I watched as a class went up front, one by one, to give a powerpoint presentation - all on the same subject, but they don't want to hear about backchanneling. I saw a classroom full of students with laptops, watching the teacher write notes on the board and then typing them into their own Word Documents to be printed and put into their notebooks. They were Juniors. IS THAT WHAT THEY WANT? I'M TOO FAR OUT THERE?

At the top of my blog it says, I DEMAND A WORLD CLASS EDUCATION FOR MY KIDS!! Say it with me. "I DEMAND A WORLD CLASS EDUCATION FOR MY KIDS!" Well, DAMNIT, I DO! And I REFUSE to stop sharing this with teachers whenever I can. It's not acceptable to say that they're not ready to hear this. It's malpractice to say that, "That stuff is just too far out there for me."

If not now, WHEN? If not YOUR school, WHICH school?