Why do public schools refuse to listen?

As I continued to read Curriculum 21 by Heidi Hayes Jacobs, I continue to question why the public school system in the United States is still resisting inevitable change. An institution whose primary goal is to prepare students for entry into the real world, it would seem logical that it would embrace the technology which students will need to possess mastery of in order to have an advantage when both competing against their global peers as well as to collaborate with them. Hayes states that "Eventually we must realize that it does not make sense to simply ban all of the existing technologies children want to use from their learning experiences in school." (Hayes 187) Fear of the unknown has paralyzed many educational institutions, leaving a small faction of the faculty to attempt to implement reform against a tide of resistance. In the day and age of the Digital Native, as coined by Will Richardson, there is no excuse for ignoring the power that technology has to offer. Technology holds the capacity to motivate, while providing a forum for genuine creation for an authentic audience. We are doing a disservice to the very students whom are entrusted into our care by alienating them from the opportunity to lean via a mode which they have been wired to connect with and understand. Even those in the educational field who fear integrating technology because they do not possess a level of expertise which they are accustomed to in the classroom have a multitude of options for beginning. Try some of the following:

Wikis, Blogs and Podcasts by Will Richardson
Weblogg-ed
Host Will Richardson

Free Technology for Teachers
Host Richard Byrne

2Cents Worth
Host: David Warlick

The Tempered Radical
Host: Bill Ferriter

Sources:

Curriculum 21: essential education for a changing world

Heidi Hayes.Jacobs - Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development - Alexandria, Va. - 2010