For me, this video is a metaphor for teaching.
Below you have two options: a wide stair case and a narrow escalator. Easy choice, right?
Who wants to do the work of chugging up the stairs when the escalator will do it for you?
Well, that's like education. In "traditional" classes (by that I mean classes that tend to be top-down, lecture for 25 minutes, read the chapter for 25 minutes, and then here's a worksheet for homework approach) students are going to choose the path of least resistance, (the escalator) which is to "do school," where they go through the motions and do well and get their A's. Yet, they neither create anything meaningful nor are they ever really engaged in what they are learning.
And I don't blame them.
But when you spice up the stairs some (and here is where I'd argue that using technology and personalizing your curriculum to the students' interests and passions), look what happens.
Who doesn't want to have a unique experience? Who doesn't want to create? Who doesn't want to leave their mark?
Are we giving students this same opportunity? Or are we just monitoring the escalator?
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