This device? It’s amazing. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before, or at least used lately. It sparks my imagination, it contains an infinite number of possibilities for brainstorming, doodling, thinking, designing, and even dreaming. It’s very quiet and in fact makes no real sound on it’s own. It’s just me and my thoughts with this device. It requires little maintenance and even contains a special section that can be used in the event of mistakes, if you choose to. It’s power is always at 100% and best of all, it’s completely wireless. Some say this device is going to change the world. It’s going to transform classrooms. It’s going to be THE thing that takes every student to the next level in learning. It’s so innovative that everyone will want one.
Except it’s a pencil. It’s ordinary. It’s common. It’s not considered “innovative” by anyone and there won’t be a pencil presentation at ISTE this year.
But, wait… there is hope for the pencil. In the hands of a child? It can create. It can design. It can reimagine the world when powered by their thoughts. It can explain solutions to problems that come from the hearts and souls of our learners. All of these things are possible if we turn the pencils over to our students and unleash their creativity. If we stop defining what they are to write, to create, to bubble in, and do and open our classrooms to become gardens of unlimited possibility.
That’s where the innovation is. It’s not in the pencil, the stapler, or even in the iPad. It’s in our kids and it’s in us. We are the innovators. The authors, the poets, the artists, the architects, the scientists, the musicians, the mathematicians, and the dreamers. We hold the power to change it all.
My point? Because I just had to make a pencil pun…. it’s not about a device. It’s about providing students access and support to the power to change the world. A power they’ll find within themselves when it’s not about the device. A power that grows from their passion, their heart, and their learning each and every day. A power we all need for the future.
My hope for the pencil is that it’s in great hands… our learners. We just can’t go wrong.
