EdReform Divide?

Like many of you out there I spent this past weekend at EduCon in Philadelphia. I have learned so much and took away many positive ideas about the future of education.

One thought kept eating at me though. 

Although EduCon is not a technology conference, it is obvious that most of us that attend are at least above average in our use of technology. As I heard many people discuss and share ideas, much of what they spoke about included an assumption that technology was necessary in the schools. I agree with this, but are we creating a divide between those of us who understand things like Twitter, Diigo, Blogging, etc and those who don't?

Later that night those thoughts literally hit home. As I was talking to my wife (also a teacher) about all the things that were racing through my head about education reform and everything that needs to change she looked me square in the eyes and said "right now, I just want to not be a teacher." As weird as that was for me to hear (I live and breathe #edreform and #edtech). It showed me that while the things happening are powerful to us, it is nothing compared to what is being thrown about by the people actually in charge of most schools.

This type of change is what the term "grass roots" was made for. We have an obligation to those around us (teacher, parent, student, administrator) to prove that the things we are discussing are real and entirely possible. But we need to be willing to change the way we communicate those ideas to those around us (David Timony made a great Encienda presentation about this at EduCon).

Maybe we need to change the language, or the way we disseminate the ideas. But I think the most important thing we must realize is that some people are not buying what we are selling. I can't claim to know how to do it, but I know that we can figure it out.