So I copied the link, emailed the devotion to a friend of mine who runs a small group for high school boys, and also facebooked it to a boy whom I thought would really get a lot out of it (we talk about working out, health and fitness all the time). This is something that I do often, and in turn I am often the recipient of such online wisdom when others come across it. On facebook we may comment, and others usually join in, or at least "like" it. In an email, it may be a more private conversation. Interestingly this devotion was set up so you could blog about it. I am posting the link here, On Line Devotion, not so my classmates can be influenced by the "religious" information (though, I am willing to discuss that too), but so you all can see what such a site it like. I thought about how quickly and easily I used technology to connect this information to others, and what is possible on this site. This is just what we have been talking about in our Intro to Teaching with Digital Tools class. This site makes it possible for students to discuss topics that are important to them, with the added possibility of a knowledgeable adult, the pastor, to consult. All of this is common to my youth group experience, as well as my "religious" experience. The youth pastor that I work with is constantly twitting and blogging, and sending me links to such digital literature to discuss. Friends email me links with information, questions, and quotes. I use an online study bible web site for a lot of my personal bible study. So why are we so behind in schools?! Why is it so hard to work technology into education? I have been a youth leader for almost 20 years, and I have always been told to "speak the students language" if I want them to listen. This language has changed considerably through out the 20 years, but the need has not. My mode of conversation has dramatically changed from phone calls and notes, to Facebook and texting. I am still sending a message of how much God and I care, but I do it in their chosen verbiage. Why do we expect students in school to speak our language, and don't try to communicate with them in their's?
