This week’s subject is the basic tool box but it might help to have a basic understanding of what tools are.
On Tools.
Tools are technologies that extend your biological abilities in some way. It’s not enough that you have the tool, but the situation must also be appropriate to the use of the tool. Further, the benefit derived is directly proportional to your skill and knowledge regarding the application of the tool in that situation.
What’s important to remember here is that tools change. Old tools fall out of favor. New tools come along. Familiar tools get modified. How we relate to tools is an important consideration.
We’ll be exploring that relationship in the next unit.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Tools in a classroom have to evolve. Throughout time, we make changes to our toolbox to become better “Technicians”. I think that one problem is, people become to comfortable with their toolbox. Educators aren’t always eager to add new things to their box to make it different.
I think some of our better tools that have benefitted our classrooms are things that assist disabilities. I recently took a class that we identified tools for hearing and vision impaired, and learning disabilities. The toolbox that we created in the class was amazing. If educators look hard enough they will find a tool for each student that will benefit them.