Will Richardson

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Greetings from Fantasyland

October 21, 2002 By Will Richardson

I have:

  • 1,400 computers less than four years old.
  • Two T-1 lines.
  • My own office.
  • A reduced teaching schedule (2 88-minute classes a day with no duty).
  • More server space than I know what to do with (my yearbook drive is 60 gig).
  • Kids who have computers and access at home to go along with their cell phones, A&F outfits and Land Cruisers.
  • Six top notch tech support people who run when I need them.
  • A network administrator who wants to play and learn new stuff more than anything else.
  • A principal whose e-mail message says simply “Totally awesome” when she sees my newspaper site.
  • A department chair who trusts that what I’m doing is educationally sound even though she has little understanding of just what it is that I’m doing.
  • A wife who does software training and writes tech books for a living, and who answers my tech support calls whenever needed.

    First, let me say that I am humbly thankful for all of this. I understand that this is not reality, that there is little to temper my dreams and ideas for the technology. As Pat says, “privilege makes naivete not just sustainable but enviable.”

    Second, again, as Pat says, there is a political/class aspect that shouldn’t and cannot be overlooked. My optimisim is fueled by my autonomy and support both in people and money. Reading Joe’s and Pat’s accounts of their struggles and small victories both with connections and ideas grounds me, reminds me of how different it is for me.

    All that leads me to wonder if I’m living up to the responsibility that comes with that privilege. What is that responsibility, in fact? Students first, I know, but after that…? Is the stuff I do or can do even relevant to the vast majority of teachers out there who don’t have the same resources? Just thinking about it…
    —–

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