August 1, 2013
My dad was in the import-export business. Over many years, he sent tons and tons of New Zealand products to Japan – kiwifruit, live eels, boysenberries, beef, milk powder, sheepskins. He made annual trips to Japan and it was always a treat for us when he returned home. What new gadget had the Japanese come up with? Pens that could write in different colors, yo-yos that lit up when you spun them, and the Sony Walkman. All pretty cool. But the one thing I remember most vividly was the digital watch with a stopwatch function. No one else in school had ever seen one. To me, at maybe 10 or 12 years old, the watch might as well have been from outer space. No hour or minute hands, just numbers. Probably to my parents' annoyance, I could announce such amazing facts as it took 11.2 seconds to run to the mailbox and back. In later years, other new technologies would impress but it's that digital watch I remember.
I was reminded of that time of utter fascination a couple of days ago. Our STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Coordinator, Rick Miller, made an announcement over the PA system. It was a quiet, late-July Monday and there were relatively few of us in the building. Rick said he was demonstrating the STEM Program's new 3-D printer. About half a dozen of us showed up in the science lab. Wow!
It's not like we've never seen a new technology before. Here, at Good Counsel, we are days away from the iPad implementation for freshmen. There's no question that the iPad is an attention-getting device but most of what it does has been around for a while – internet access, camera, music player, word processor, photo album, game player, touch screen, streaming video, and so on. The allure is in the ease and variety of use, the compact and elegant combination of form and function.
The 3-D printer struck me differently. I stood and watched and watched as layer after layer of filament was extruded with precision onto a glass plate, rendering a nut and bolt that you could pick up and thread together. The possibility of turning design concepts into tangible objects seems like a breakthrough that will engage our students in powerful new ways. I was filled with wonder.
As we prepare for the start of another school year, my wish for all our students is that they, too, arrive with open hearts and minds, ready to be filled with wonder. They will have learning tools at their disposal that were unimaginable a generation ago. However useful those learning tools are in the present, the reality is that they come and then they go – anyone used an Overhead Projector lately? What doesn't change through the years, though, is the capacity of talented teachers to fire the imagination. My colleagues Rick Miller and STEM teacher Bill Jones are in good company. All Good Counsel teachers return in two weeks bringing their curiosity, enthusiasm, love of learning, and constant wish to inspire the same among students. They'll be live, and in 3-D.