Last year my family blessed me with a dream birthday gift - a session of driving my very own Ferrari as fast as I could on a race track. There was some preparatory guidance but pretty soon I was jamming down the straight away at over 120 miles an hour. Such a rush! I felt so powerful and so fragile at the same time. The Ferrari F-430 handled like you read about but at those speeds, one hesitant move could throw the car and me sliding off the track. It was a sweet experience!
I think about academic technology adoption in higher education in a similar way. Sometimes we are so blazing fast to adopt new tools that we give ourselves very little time to adjust. The other side of this is that we often are hesitant to push forward and ... Like driving a Ferrari around in first gear, we miss out on Inherent potential.
I had such a blast driving "my Ferrari" but knew if I had the money or time, I could have driven so much faster. Today's academic technology tools are high powered vehicles that can enhance and support excellent pedagogy. It seems the question is not "should we drive" but rather “will we drive” the adoption of innovative technologies and 21st learning design that works to our students’ strengths?
I know that driving fast can be scary. Some would say we should proceed at a measured pace as we consider the place of technology and innovation in higher education. I agree that our path should be one of awareness of the goals and outcomes we hope to accomplish but the education needs of todays students are not easily contained to the slow lane. As technology use in our daily lives is accelerating like my ferrari down that long open straight away, I feel it is time to give the engine of student learning some “gas” and explore innovations in teaching and learning that make sense to each of our institutions.
So … I may not drive “my Ferrari” everyday but the feeling of pushing past the limits of my comfort was a freeing and empowering experience. I wish that for students and faculty to be able to join me in “my Ferrari”.
I think about academic technology adoption in higher education in a similar way. Sometimes we are so blazing fast to adopt new tools that we give ourselves very little time to adjust. The other side of this is that we often are hesitant to push forward and ... Like driving a Ferrari around in first gear, we miss out on Inherent potential.
I had such a blast driving "my Ferrari" but knew if I had the money or time, I could have driven so much faster. Today's academic technology tools are high powered vehicles that can enhance and support excellent pedagogy. It seems the question is not "should we drive" but rather “will we drive” the adoption of innovative technologies and 21st learning design that works to our students’ strengths?
I know that driving fast can be scary. Some would say we should proceed at a measured pace as we consider the place of technology and innovation in higher education. I agree that our path should be one of awareness of the goals and outcomes we hope to accomplish but the education needs of todays students are not easily contained to the slow lane. As technology use in our daily lives is accelerating like my ferrari down that long open straight away, I feel it is time to give the engine of student learning some “gas” and explore innovations in teaching and learning that make sense to each of our institutions.
So … I may not drive “my Ferrari” everyday but the feeling of pushing past the limits of my comfort was a freeing and empowering experience. I wish that for students and faculty to be able to join me in “my Ferrari”.