Thanks No Thanks, PG&E

If you follow me on social media, you might have seen my snarky tweet last week:

 That was because PG&E had shut off power to my house because of the "Public Safety Power Shutoff" and they were being coy about when it would come back on.

Just a couple of days earlier our schools were told we may lose power, and principals at both schools sent emails notifying staff that we could lose power at schools, but school would likely be in session.  In an email to all staff, Saratoga Principal Greg Louie wrote:

Tomorrow might be an opportunity to collect different kinds of evidence: teaching and learning without electricity!

We don't expect an outage to occur, but if we start the day without power or the power goes out during the school day, the plan is to keep teaching in classrooms and spaces with natural light.  Please develop a backup plan if your instructional activities involve your projector, computer(s), internet, etc.

And so, teachers prepped for the next day preparing for a day without power (including no Internet).  And that last line got me thinking.

Good teaching is good teaching.  Do we really need power to be engaging and effective teachers?  Technology is supposed to enhance, or even transform what we do, but I don't think it's always critical.  If we're just substituting technology for something analog, ie something we could do without power, is it really worth doing?

And that got me really thinking:

What if you had no power or Internet, but could get it for just 20 minutes in your class? How would you use it?  Would it enhance, or transform what you were doing without power?

Technology shouldn't necessarily be used every period, all period. An effective use of technology is one in which it is chunked, and blended with good instruction: lessons with high student interaction and engagement. Relevant learning experiences.  Rigorous, but attainable, content.

Effective use of technology is one in which the tech is "invisible." This means that the teacher has created a learning environment so effective that it's not about the tech tool they're using. It's merely a means to end.

So let's use this (potential) inconvenience brought upon us by PG&E, and say no thanks to power being shut off, but thank you for sparking a thought experiment that helps us evaluate how, and why we're using technology in the classroom.  

As you plan a lesson with technology, ask yourself some of these questions:

• Why am I using this technology? What is the goal of my lesson that this tech helps facilitate?

• Would my lesson be the same, or worse, if I had no power?

• If I only had 20 minutes of power and Internet, how would I maximize those minutes to enhance my instruction and better support students?

I'm curious to hear what people did. If you planned a lesson sans power, did you teach that lesson anyway?  Did you have any a-ha's as you planned the lesson?  Would a lack of power even affect you?  I'd love to hear your thoughts. Especially how you would use those 20 minutes! Please comment below.

Oh, and I got my power back Friday night. Thanks No Thanks, PG&E.