People, myself included, enthuse about these tools with a quasi-religious fervour. They even use terms like blogvangelism. (See, for example, Will Richardson). But why?

There are two quotations from the Jewish scriptures that, in my mind, capture this fervour. Jewish religious literature is full of argument, debate and discussion, and so the views expressed by rabbis (literally, teachers) become very important. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to find that in the standard daily prayer book is a section entitled "Ethics of the Fathers", in which the views of famous rabbis are given.

The two I especially like are those of Rabbi Tarphon, who said:

"The work is great, the day is short, the labourers are sluggish, the wages are high and the Master of the house is insistent."

and:

"It is not your duty to complete the work -- but neither are you free to refrain from taking part in it."

So, why the evangelism? Here are my thoughts on the matter.

1. It's natural to get excited about something you've discovered, and to want to share it with the rest of the world.

2. The matter is urgent: kids are growing up being able to use the new tools in a technical sense, but not necessarily with the understanding and wisdom to not be taken in. We need more teachers and educationalists who can use the so-called "cool tools" so that they can provide proper guidance for the kids.

3. Technological development now moves at such a pace that we can't afford to wait whilst the late adopters finally come on board. There will always be early and late adopters, of course, so the challenge is to reduce the time gap between them Drastically.

4. As new developments occur, in the direction in which they are occurring, constructivist and, especially, social constructivist modes of learning are seen more and more, and are probably occurring spontaneously even without teacher intervention (or perhaps especially without teacher intervention), such as in social groupings outside of school.

In other words, I am quite convinced that kids actually think differently these days: I should not be surprised to learn that this is reflected in changed brain structure or workings (but I haven't had the time to research this fascinating possibility). If that is the case, teachers who don't wake up and smell the coffee will soon find themselves talking a completely different language to their students -- assuming that hasn't happened already.

The question arises: what has a 20th century-grounded teacher trying to deliver a 19th century curriculum to offer to students in the 21st century?

The potential for expanding ones sources of information is astonishingly high -- and so is the potential for a huge increase in misinformation. We who think, perhaps a tad arrogantly, that we have seen the light should not feel embarrassed about our evangelism!

What do you think? Please leave a comment.