Brian Crosby republished an article in today’s Learning is Messy – Blog, that makes a compelling call to treat technology and social software as simply a new and valuable avenue for enriching our lives, rather than treating it as the number of the beast, because it’s new and valuable. He starts with…
Paper and pencils can be used to draw inappropriate, hate filled, pictures messages and ideas – and you could poke someone’s eye out. They could even be used to lure your child into a dangerous situation. Should we (and could we if we tried?) cut off access to keep our children safe? No, because they are everywhere and too valuable in so many ways – so as parents and educators we monitor and teach ethical, appropriate, safe use.
Read many more compelling examples at Reprised Because of DOPA.
Take a look at “A Proposal for Banning Pencils” By Doug Johnson at Education World.
http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/columnists/johnson/johnson004.shtml