Digital Eyes

Recently I was asked by a candidate for our local school board to sit down and talk about the state of technology in our district. Here is the interview from http://andreacueneforschoolboard.com/2013/10/17/talking-technology-with-dave-zukor/ I believe that Wayzata’s dedication to excellence in technology is changing the way our students learn and the way our teachers teach. In my own work at Greenwood, I’ve seen firsthand how the MyWay initiative is truly engaging kids in learning and supporting communication in exciting, new ways. So I was really looking forward to my conversation about technology with Dave Zukor , a Technology Integration Specialist in Wayzata Schools. Dave Zukor has worked in the Wayzata schools for over 13 years. He worked at Sunset Hill and Plymouth Creek teaching third grade, fifth grade, vision 21 and technology before becoming a Technology Integration Specialist six years ago. His primary role is to support and train teachers, but you may recogni...

So recently I had a great conversation with a friend and colleague. We started our conversation around the Ted Talk, "Why Work Doesn't Happen At Work." We were applying it to teachers and how teachers are never able to have the time to dig deep into new learning and ideas. They are so inundated with directives and initiatives, combined with meetings and interruptions, that they are consumed with tasks, rather than tackling big ideas. This means that when I meet with them to talk about mobile devices, digital literacy, personalized learning, etc... they take a "just tell me what I need to do" approach, rather than thinking about why this is so important and how best to make it happen. The conversation led into a discussion about Flow. How can we help teachers immerse themselves in something so they can reach that state of flow. Again, there are too many distractions for teachers to ever dig deeply into their learning. For more on Flow, check out http://en....