“Everything's been said, but everyone hasn't said it."

by John Watson

“Everything's been said, but everyone hasn't said it."

“It’s not about the technology.”

“Teachers are more important than tech.”

“You can’t just put students in front of computers.”

If you’ve been involved with digital learning for long, you’ve probably heard those sentiments so often that you can feel (as I have), that everybody understands and agrees with these sentiments.

After all, if you’ve attended DLAC, ISTE, or the iNACOL Symposium you’ve probably heard these ideas more than once.

But Rick Hess reminds us in an Ed Week commentary that there’s a difference between simply knowing that a concept has been stated, even many times, compared to whether everyone is truly on board.

…one of the most useful insights I ever got was from the mentor who murmured, when he noticed me eyeballing the clock during an endless meeting, “We're not done yet. Everything's been said, but everyone hasn't said it."

Yes it’s been said many times that K-12 digital learning “isn’t about the technology.” It’s about how smart and caring teachers and school leaders implement programs and instructional strategies towards meeting educational goals.

But there are still plenty of examples of schools taking the wrong approach, so those things that have been said, even many times, often need to be stated again.

“Everything's been said, but everyone hasn't said it."