Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Reviewing the ed tech angst

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Martin Weller weighs in on the recent edtech angst. He makes some obvious points: "The ed tech industry is different (from) the ed tech community of practitioners," he writes. Also, "a new generation of ed tech practitioners (is) here and they may approach it differently." Moreover, "the rapid (and rapidly repeating) nature of ed tech... burns people out." And it didn't help that "many found that post-pandemic their views were not respected," All of this is true. It's a tough industry (as is pretty much anything in tech) and if you don't have an enthusiasm for it you get burned out and disillusioned pretty quickly. I also think you need rather more variety than most ed techies are allowed to have: I combine writing, consulting, blogging, coding, gaming, travel and speaking, and more all into one gig. Doing it this way, and staying excited about the new (the way I am about things like the indieweb and Octopus) go a long way. But I remember well the days back at Assiniboine when I had to fight with my managers to forge my career my own way. If you let them, managers will make you a hired wrench and leave you tired and frustrated with no prospects for the rest of your career.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Nov 03, 2024 3:05 p.m.

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