I recently came across your blog and must say thanks for posting relevant commentaries about technology and education.

I am an educational technologist for a school in New York City so I am by no means a techno-phobe and agree with much of your viewpoints. However, I did want to make a few points.

The “education 3.0″ model is nice on paper but I think it makes lots of assumptions which will prevent it from being a large-scale reality for the foreseeable future. First, I disagree with the chart you shared, particularly where it states that teachers are “licensed professionals” versus “everybody, everywhere.” A big problem in this country is that teaching is not viewed as a real profession. Over 50,000 teachers enter the profession every year without any training (nevermind a license), and they are usually assigned to schools serving high-poverty, minority communities. There are huge issues in terms of equitable access to high-quality teachers, despite mandates of NCLB. Effective use of technology is chiefly reliant on having these types of teachers and chances are that youth living in poverty will never have that opportunity. For them, they would be fortunate if they even have access to “education 1.0″ in that table.

Secondly, the issue of time always emerges as a factor for anyone working as a technology facilitator in schools. I wouldn’t be so quick to blame teachers for “wasting” their time watching American Idol as you mentioned in a previous post. Teachers have different conceptualizations of what their profession entails, based on previous education and experiences. Some view teaching as a solitary activity and punch-out at 4pm while others are professionally engaged and share their work and viewpoints by presenting at conferences and doing things like creating their own blogs, such as yourself. Most teachers are the solitary, private type and don’t expect to be professionally engaged during free time at home. That’s their right. I would love for them to post to the web about teaching strategies but if they don’t, I respect that and I need to find other ways to get them engaged. Schools need to restructure to find the time DURING the school day. Guess what, in Japan its normal for teachers have 20 hours a week to collaboratively plan lessons, demonstrate teaching approaches, and observe peers practicing their craft and reflect. American schools can do it (some have), but they need to restructure.

Finally, we love high-stakes standardized tests in the US to assess student achievement and to determine if a school is effective. “Education 3.0″ is fundamentally at odds with this method of assessment. Perhaps the independent school world has a better chance at this model.

In any case, I’ll enjoy reading future posts!