Why Wasn’t I Using These Tools Before?

From these most trying times, we must glean at least a modicum of constructive meaning, else our sacrifices are for naught. That said, in light of classroom adjustments related to COVID safety restrictions, I now embrace a role for technology in my instruction, where I was reluctant to before.

Even if things were to return to some semblance of the familiar, I suspect I would retain much of the digital applications currently in use, such as recording my classroom instruction, and using an LMS (learning management system) that can serve as a repository for the organization of instructional content and of student-completed assignments. These are only two examples that, to be honest, have me asking, Why wasn’t I using these tools before?

Technology was never meant to serve as a replacement for the human mind, but rather to work in service of the human mind. It was never meant to exist as an object of exclusive reliance, such as what the current COVID crisis necessitates, but rather leveraged merely as a tool to support and enhance the teacher’s efforts. A testament, once again, to the value of boundaries.