Educators have a positive gift for re-using and remaking things. It may be an inevitable consequence of being perennially on a limited budget, but I like to think it also shows creative minds at work. Dishpans become storage units for books. The oversize Lego blocks the kids have outgrown are installed in the kindergarten toy corner. My husband, a physics teacher, has thriftily collected old mirrors, free CD’s, broken headphones, and once, an old piano, to demonstrate concepts to his high school kids. My sister, an early childhood educator, can apparently craft fascinating activities for her students out of anything, including empty soda bottles and dirt. Ideas are recycled, too. Any number of high schools offer courses in forensics, building on the popularity of CSI Miami and CSI Las Vegas
Technology tools, hardware and software, are adapted, too. Wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networks weren’t around for long before teachers co-opted them for educational purposes. The web has become a platform for student expression, the instrument for millions of young voices. My purpose in writing this blog is to look at ways tech tools, have been (or could be) re-purposed for the the preK-12 educator.
The world is one big teachable moment!
