Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Technological Debt

On my last contract, I was introduced to a new term confronting the IT industry and Connecticut businesses - technological debt.

Technological debt refers to the practice of making do with existing technology for too long. Systems get patched, band-aids applied, responsible progress delayed or ignored.

Our schools are in similar condition. The lecturer/passive listener model has no place in this century except as an artifact of yesteryear. And students memorizing answers, working without artificially intelligent aids, and lugging papyrus around is wholly inexcusable.

The technological debt we are talking about is non-trivial. The accrued interest payments our kids are unwittingly assuming will diminish their lives forever.

The only relief in sight is the hope that the funding of public schools collapses to the point of forcing reform of an obsolete education mindset that doesn't have the sense to come up for air before it drowns us all.

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