Ken Meredith got me thinking about change again today. His words “not everyone is at the same point on the change continuum” is a reality. As I read this I related to Kelly Christopherson’s blog entry “The Potty Training Theory of Technology“. Kelly uses the analogy of potty training to illustrate that much of life is just a more sophisticated version of learning many of the things that children learn in their early years. He explains that there is no right age for learning a new technology. He relates this to potty training his daughter. After trying all kinds of ways to train her, it was a young cousin, a member of her own peer group, who influenced his daughter and got her using the potty.

Today I had the opportunity to be a person of influence as I worked with a teacher who was integrating writing and technology in her grade 3 classroom. It all began earlier this year when she attended a district PD session and then one that I offered in our school. She asked if I would help her as she tried to implement some new technological ideas in her classroom. Today as she thanked me with a big smile on her face, she quoted one of the boys in her class who said, “Thanks for bringing the laptops into our classroom today. I used to think that school interfered with my play time. But today was great.” Her thoughts were that now that we had done this together, she felt comfortable moving ahead.

Sharon Peters commented to Kelly in his blog:

“The analogy holds together well for the most part, but it is that sense of necessity and critical mass that concerns me. Too many teachers are comfortable in their diapers or training pants to bother finding out where the bathrooms are. When whole schools of teachers are wearing diapers, where are they going to see teachers who are not only using the toilet but are handing out maps to where they are in the building? The message of the imperative need for using the toilet appropriately has to get out somehow.”

All three of these blog entries caused me to once again think about Vygotsky and the zone of proximal development. If as Kelly says, much of what we learn is just a more sophisticated version of many of the things that we learn as a child, then we have to assume that all educators can learn about technology. My colleague today said that she has really never tried to learn about technology. However, this year when she was given a laptop by the district, she thought she should at least give it a go. She also clearly stated that having someone available to help her has been a great benefit. “I probably would have given up if you weren’t there,” she said.

I like Sharon am concerned about those that continue to wear diapers. Doug Johnson created a set of competency rubrics in 1998 and updated them in 2002. As I searched for these rubrics, I came across Doug’s blog and found that he is in the process of revising them once again. It was interesting to go through his blog and look at the drafts of various rubrics. Perhaps it is time to formulate one continuum that would show stages of technological literacy?? Just as we progress along a literacy and mobility continuum, such a continuum would map development in the use of technology. AND the philosophical belief behind it is that everyone is somewhere on the continuum. With support, guidance and desire to learn, one can move from one developmental phase to the next.