"As We May Think" by Vannevar Bush Article Response A. Scott Bosworth EDT 616 In reading "As We May Think" the first thing that really hits me is vision. Wow, think about how the different visions people around the world have had actually shaped the world as we know it. Look at people like Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford (just to name a few). They had a vision as to what might be possible and made it happen! Vannevar Bush is intriguing in that he had a vision but could not make it happen. His ideas were just way ahead of what technological developments would allow him to do. Yet, even though technology was not available, he kept dreaming. He made his ideas well known, so well known that later as technologies developed others picked up on his ideas and made them a reality. I find the fact that Bush did not just dismiss his ideas because they couldn't be realized in his lifetime inspiring. So he couldn't make them happen, being a scientist he had insight as to what was coming down the proverbial pike. He knew where technology was at that point in his life and could see where it was going. He had a dream and kept it alive for others to develop. As teachers we many times find ourselves in the same role. We have dreams for our students and yet we can't make them happen. The students must make the dream their own and envelop it into their own being. It is theirs to pursue and to make a reality. Perhaps we are there just to set the spark? Being trained in my undergraduate program in mathematics I found his comments dealing with mathematicians interesting. He stated that a mathematician is trained in many processes in problem solving. It is part of the mathematician's job to choose the right process for the problem to be solved. Wow, that has implications dealing with selecting various learning style theories and differentiating student learning. One size does not fit all. There are different approaches to setting the spark depending on the student(s) you're dealing with in hopes it will become a blaze! I sometimes feel like I'm running an assembly line here at school as I give and help kids with their projects. More times than I care to admit products of learning have a cookie cutter appearance. I'd love to have time to build basic skills and then develop a topic with the kids and let them pursue it in what manner they choose. Well, there's a goal to reach for! The science community, as Bush well knew, was constantly changing. One invention or discovery led to another, and then to another, and so on. It carries on infinitely through time. This I believe is the cornerstone of education. We need to be abreast of what is going on in our world so that it can be perpetuated. Science is also very interconnected. During this period at the end of World War II scientists from various backgrounds worked together for a common cause, each having their own specialty. The collaborative effect was synergistic in all that they endeavored. One of Bush's challenges was how to keep the momentum going since the incentive for the collaboration, the end of the war, was soon to be history, literally. We can learn that working together meshing our own specialties has incredible results. So often we work on our own achieving mediocre results when if we were to work together we might be more apt to achieve amazing results. The MLTI program has really tried to mentor this process with professional collaboration throughout the state. Teachers helping and sharing with other teachers. Taking an idea from one teacher and tweaking it a bit to make it one's own or on to something else no one else would have thought of. We need to see what each other is doing. It often sparks in us an idea that we would not otherwise have had. Without the vision of Bush would we have the Internet? The idea of his Memex laid the foundation for the Internet to be developed. Many entrepreneurs are successful by taking someone else's idea, somehow refining it, and creating something new. Vannevar Bush's vision, perseverance, and dedication are all to be noted. Do we have a vision? If we have one and it seems impossible are we working to keep it alive with the realization that it may not happen in our lifetime, but perhaps someone else will adopt it and see it come to fruition in their life time? I believe we can have a large impact on the future and the people in it by doing just what Bush did, dream, let the dream be known, and have faith that someone else will take the baton and run with it. The other alternative? We can keep our dreams to ourselves and our dreams will die with us.