I like the idea of “Change One Thing”, and relate it to technology. Make one technological change, whether its a Google Reader account or a Wiki, the important thing is to change something.

Yeah. What he said.

(I’ve learned when it’s best to just shut up and nod my head in agreement with those who say it better, and both you and Nate did so with this post.)

The problem is teachers cannot use the technologies to teach before they’ve learned how to use the technologies to learn. You *can* teach Shakespeare without being able to read, but you’re at the mercy of outsiders to tell you what the play’s about before you can pass it on and your interpretations are limited by what you’re told — rightly or wrongly.

That’s what’s going on in technology and education. A few people have studied the work, are enthusiastic about the canon, and are working hard to spread the word. Unfortunately, before others can really use the richness of the connected lifestyle, they need to adopt some of the practices of that lifestyle to support their own learning.

A teacher who wants to use blogs in the classroom should expect to blog for a year to find out what it’s about before subjecting students to a requirement to “write at least 500 words about xyz each week and leave a comment on at least four classmates’ postings.”

An instructor that wants to use Ning as an extended classroom should spend time in a Ning as a participant to learn the dynamic of the space as a social environment. Failure to do so turns Ning into a Geocities website and loses the value of being there in the first place.

Authors are encouraged to write what they know. Teachers can only teach the way they know how to learn. If they are not using the technology to learn, then they are at a severe disadvantage when it comes time to use it to teach. Those who pick a technology and take the time to use it, can usually find a way to adopt, adapt, or abandon it, before moving on.

As you point out, “[t]eaching concerns human relationships.” Technology allowing us to connect to other humans takes some degree of mastery and the willingness to invest time and effort to acquire it. It’s not overwhelmingly huge, but it does require a certain level of “bunny-slope bravery.”

“Bunny-slope bravery” is that level of risk taking required for the novice skier who’s standing at the top of the bunny-slope for the first time, and looking down, to actually plant poles and push off. Looking down, that’s one scary hill! Those who overcome the fear and get to the bottom, look back and think, “What was I afraid of?”