The extreme sophistication of modern technology - wonderful though its benefits are - is, ironically, an impediment to engaging young people with basics: with learning how things work.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When new technology in the classroom starts happening, some people get very excited and think of it as a panacea. It attracts very high amounts of money; it raises expectations, and those expectations aren't met.
What's amazing is, if young people understood how doing well in school makes the rest of their life so much interesting, they would be more motivated. It's so far away in time that they can't appreciate what it means for their whole life.
I became interested in educational technologies because I believe that they have the potential to transform how we practice and think about education and learning.
You don't have to be young to learn about technology. You have to feel young.
Young people are this awesome, creative, hopeful untapped resource out there.
Technology is a nerdy field. That's why I called myself a 'geek.' It requires a lot of training and encouragement at a very young age.
What I like to say is that we're trying to develop a new generation of technologies that are worthy of the next generation of kids.
I'm encouraging kids to use computers at their own pace to build aspirations.
It is the child's understanding that teaches the adults the way of the future. They're still doing it today with modern technology.
We have an amazing advantage right now in that we have developed technology that is so sexy, so engaging for kids.