Throes:
noun
- intense or violent pain and struggle, especially accompanying birth, death, or great change.
Not sure which of those ideas is most on my mind as I write this morning, but here is what prompted my writing. I think I’m in the throes of change, absent the birth/death part.
Two worlds collided. One, I’m reading Transforming Libraries-A Toolkit for Innovators, Makers, and Seekers, by Ron Starker. So far, so good. I’m hoping to get some good ideas for three of our ongoing building projects. A new middle school, a new elementary school, and a new addition to our high school.
Hit this quote by Mr. Starker, “Those libraries offering only access to information will most likely perish, while libraries offering members the opportunity to build, create, problem solve, collaborate, network, innovate, and learn lifelong skills will become innovation hubs and critical change social institutions that carry us through times of turbulent change.”
I absolutely agree with this. Libraries are critical in our world, in schools, and for kids.
So I’m reading this book. And I get a message from a colleague about an article from Sydney, Australia, March, 2019, titled, ‘Major distraction’: school dumps iPads, returns to paper textbooks’.
Frustration was my first response. My assumption was that the sender of the message saw this as some kind of victory over change, over kids using technology in schools. Probably an unfair assumption. I make a lot of those. And I love that colleagues send me stuff to read.
And the frustration went away pretty quickly. Any change will happen in fits and starts. The quote about libraries above seems definitive in my opinion. Ultimately, for example, “…Google’s digitation project will greatly help libraries and will bring back thousands of out-of-print books, creating universal access that will ultimately benefit authors and readers alike.”
Reading the article made several things clear.
The ‘dumping’ of the ipads was to eliminate distraction from popups during reading. I suppose that’s kind of reasonable, but popups can be eliminated in other ways. However, the ‘dumping’ was also addressed. “The school will also phase out iPads and begin a bring-your-own device policy with a preference for laptops.”
Oh. Bring your own device, with a preference for laptops. That seems good.
Throes of change. Fits and starts. Intense or violent pain and struggle. Great change.
Bring it on.
The Lighting of a Fire 