Get Busy Livin’ or Get Busy Dyin’

near Margaret River Western Australia Indian Ocean Coast

When I first began the MAET program I had just finished my seventh year of teaching.  I have always been interested in technology and noticed that when I came back to the classroom after a couple of years away, the technologies students were using and were aware of far exceeded my knowledge at that point.  I was interested in learning more to further enhance my knowledge.  I did not want to be the teacher wasting away and doing the same things year in and year out and wondering why my students didn’t get it or why they weren’t attentive in class.  This was paramount to me.  I felt a lot like Red (Morgan Freeman’s character in The Shawshank Redemption), “Get Busy Livin’, or Get Busy Dyin.’

As I embarked on my journey, I was amazed by how much technology was out there and how much I was not aware of.  I was also encouraged by the use of the term “Digital Natives” to refer to the current generation that had grown up with a computer and the internet all around them from there first moments in this world.  I was born about 8 to 10 years before this group came along and at times I felt 100 years back.  “Get busy livin, or get busy dyin.’  Throughout these course I have been inspired by what I can do in my classroom and how I can help others reach their full potential incorporating technology into the curriculum to support and enhance students understanding.

Now that the journey is coming to an end I am encouraged by how technology can benefit us positively.  I feel the same about this as some of my predecessors probably felt about the calculator, and others felt about the use of phones.  The realization is that the technology is here and here to stay and those that can find and use it to inspire will leave a lasting impression on their students.  Although I am about to be done with the program, I am just at the beginning of my ability to inspire students and enhance their understanding through the use of technology.  “Get busy livin or get busy dyin.”

by: Brian D Bedard

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