At what should be a time of enormous hope and optimism for schools and school districts, I find myself quietly troubled.
Why?
We have, in President Obama, a president who certainly seems to understand the varied and complex challenges facing our schools today. While stressing the need for greater accountability, he also seems to understand the importance of "21st century classrooms" and the need to develop assessment tools that measure more than just basic skills (the current thrust of NCLB) but also measure "21st century skills" such as creativity and critical thinking, communication and collaboration, technology, media and information literacy and the ability to apply information and knowledge in real world contexts. And now we have the stimulus package and approximately $100 Billion in added (and unexpected) funding for education. Funding that is earmarked, in part, to encourage reform and the creation of "21st century classrooms."
President Obama should certainly be commended for his vision, his foresight and for, quite literally, putting his money where his ideological mouth is. But I'm worried.
Sometimes scarcity and lack are a good thing. It forces you to make better decisions, to focus on what's really important and to make better use of what you have. In the case of technology, some schools and school districts are woefully underfunded and the technology just isn't there or the technology that is there is out of date and hopelessly obsolete. But in many schools and school districts, the threshold issue isn't really the absence of technology, or the amount of technology, but how the technology that is already there is being used. Is this technology being used as a 21st century learning tool to promote deeper, more meaningful interaction with the subject mater, increased classroom collaboration and communication, more student-driven, project-based learning, innovative instructional practices and more differentiated instruction? Or is the technology being used as an efficacy aid; as an electronic tool to do the same things we've been doing in our classrooms for decades, only faster?
I guess what I fear is a feeding frenzy. President Obama says "innovate," "build," "create 21st century classrooms" and what do we do? We go out and buy a bunch of stuff. We spend millions on laptops and desktops, whiteboards and document cameras. We spend, spend, spend, but we don't stop, pause, think and ask ourselves.....why is this stuff here? How does a document camera actually improve the quality of student learning? How will these tools be used to better engage and motivate our children? How will these tools improve the pedagogy? Because if that doesn't change, then all the technology in the world won't change anything.
I recently had a conversation with someone who works as a teacher in a technology-rich district about how technology was being used in the classroom. His response? "Mike, it's all bs." (His words, not mine). He pointed out that every classroom in the middle school where he works has a whiteboard. How were the whitebords being used? When they were being used at all, they were being used no differently than a teacher would use a blackboard; for back-to-the-classroom, teacher-driven, lecture-based, drill and practice instruction, only with really cool graphics and stylus pens that broke with alarming regularity. Most times, however, the whiteboards weren't really used at all because they were covered with hand written notes, post-its and other visual aids.
The use of computers in the classroom was no better. For the most part, the computers sat in the back of the room and weren't turned on. When they were used, they were often used as a disciplinary aid. "If you behave well, you'll get some time on the computer." Or, "if you misbehave, you'll lose your time on the computer." Using a $1,200.00 computer the same way you would use the promise of an extra bathroom break or a stick of gum is hardly a pedagogically sound use of technology. In fact, I think we would be better off just investing in gum. It's cheaper.
Bottom line?
Learning about technology is fundamentally different than learning about what to do with it instructionally. Teaching teachers how to create a powerpoint presentation or how to operate a whiteboard does very little, if anything, to help teachers develop the knowledge they need to use technology to teach more effectively, understand its relationship to curriculum and content, or help students use technology to meet or exceed performance-based standards, deepen comprehension and improve the depth and quality of learning.
So please...let's be careful. Please remember one critical fact before making an investment in desktops, laptops, whiteboards and document cameras. Please remember that technology is just a tool and a tool is only useful to the extent its use is organized in a productive way. Yes, the promise of technology is real but this promise depends on three important steps.
Let's think before we act.
If we do that, then I am hopeful we will turn an important corner in the course and history of education and take a meaningful step towards preparing this and future generations of students to compete and succeed in the 21st century.
Why?
We have, in President Obama, a president who certainly seems to understand the varied and complex challenges facing our schools today. While stressing the need for greater accountability, he also seems to understand the importance of "21st century classrooms" and the need to develop assessment tools that measure more than just basic skills (the current thrust of NCLB) but also measure "21st century skills" such as creativity and critical thinking, communication and collaboration, technology, media and information literacy and the ability to apply information and knowledge in real world contexts. And now we have the stimulus package and approximately $100 Billion in added (and unexpected) funding for education. Funding that is earmarked, in part, to encourage reform and the creation of "21st century classrooms."
President Obama should certainly be commended for his vision, his foresight and for, quite literally, putting his money where his ideological mouth is. But I'm worried.
Sometimes scarcity and lack are a good thing. It forces you to make better decisions, to focus on what's really important and to make better use of what you have. In the case of technology, some schools and school districts are woefully underfunded and the technology just isn't there or the technology that is there is out of date and hopelessly obsolete. But in many schools and school districts, the threshold issue isn't really the absence of technology, or the amount of technology, but how the technology that is already there is being used. Is this technology being used as a 21st century learning tool to promote deeper, more meaningful interaction with the subject mater, increased classroom collaboration and communication, more student-driven, project-based learning, innovative instructional practices and more differentiated instruction? Or is the technology being used as an efficacy aid; as an electronic tool to do the same things we've been doing in our classrooms for decades, only faster?
I guess what I fear is a feeding frenzy. President Obama says "innovate," "build," "create 21st century classrooms" and what do we do? We go out and buy a bunch of stuff. We spend millions on laptops and desktops, whiteboards and document cameras. We spend, spend, spend, but we don't stop, pause, think and ask ourselves.....why is this stuff here? How does a document camera actually improve the quality of student learning? How will these tools be used to better engage and motivate our children? How will these tools improve the pedagogy? Because if that doesn't change, then all the technology in the world won't change anything.
I recently had a conversation with someone who works as a teacher in a technology-rich district about how technology was being used in the classroom. His response? "Mike, it's all bs." (His words, not mine). He pointed out that every classroom in the middle school where he works has a whiteboard. How were the whitebords being used? When they were being used at all, they were being used no differently than a teacher would use a blackboard; for back-to-the-classroom, teacher-driven, lecture-based, drill and practice instruction, only with really cool graphics and stylus pens that broke with alarming regularity. Most times, however, the whiteboards weren't really used at all because they were covered with hand written notes, post-its and other visual aids.
The use of computers in the classroom was no better. For the most part, the computers sat in the back of the room and weren't turned on. When they were used, they were often used as a disciplinary aid. "If you behave well, you'll get some time on the computer." Or, "if you misbehave, you'll lose your time on the computer." Using a $1,200.00 computer the same way you would use the promise of an extra bathroom break or a stick of gum is hardly a pedagogically sound use of technology. In fact, I think we would be better off just investing in gum. It's cheaper.
Bottom line?
Learning about technology is fundamentally different than learning about what to do with it instructionally. Teaching teachers how to create a powerpoint presentation or how to operate a whiteboard does very little, if anything, to help teachers develop the knowledge they need to use technology to teach more effectively, understand its relationship to curriculum and content, or help students use technology to meet or exceed performance-based standards, deepen comprehension and improve the depth and quality of learning.
So please...let's be careful. Please remember one critical fact before making an investment in desktops, laptops, whiteboards and document cameras. Please remember that technology is just a tool and a tool is only useful to the extent its use is organized in a productive way. Yes, the promise of technology is real but this promise depends on three important steps.
- First, there must be a well-articulated and shared vision for why technology is being used in the classroom.
- Second, there must be a comprehensive plan for how technology will be integrated into the learning environment.
- Third, the use of technology must be tied to an educational purpose: to 21st century standards and the to educational needs and goals of a school and its students.
Let's think before we act.
If we do that, then I am hopeful we will turn an important corner in the course and history of education and take a meaningful step towards preparing this and future generations of students to compete and succeed in the 21st century.
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8 comments:
Mike,
This was a fantastic article. Not just well written but very thought provoking and to the point. I could not have agreed with the process of selecting, implementing,and developing strategies any more than I currently do! Thanks for sharing your beliefs. I find it very refreshing when a person in your role takes on the strategy of actually using items and why rather than just that it is new, cool, and should need.
What an incredible, thoughtful post! I found myself cheering out loud when I reached this piece, "better educational results depend first and foremost on better pedagogy--on better teaching and more active and engaged learning--not on better technology."
In my opinion, the disappointing uses of technology in instruction boils down to sustainable, embedded professional learning - namely the lack of it. How can we expect a return on the investment if we don't ensure that use of technology in instruction goes beyond the bottom two levels of Bloom's Taxonomy?
I agree with you. technology is a tool, although a very powerful one, we MUST be properly trained not only in terms of hardware and software, but also in terms of direct and benefitial applications of this technology tool to reach and obtain better knowledge and academic performances from students.
We also have to remember that technology is not something new for students, their life is inundated with technological gadgets, and it is disappointing for them to get into a classroom and fell like their turning time back because the use of technology is part of the future.
Their demand for new approaches and forms of presentation of information and cognitive stimulation. Check www.tomorrow.org
they have a study about the use of technology in US schools and the students' opinion on it.
I'm trying to design a study that fits my country's reality (PERU).
You can visit me at: http://learningandscience.blogspot.com
Very well put. My concern is that by doing the same old thing we will not see benefits of the money spent, then the money will be taken away just as it was previously when it was focused on educational software. The 21st century classroom is more than a bunch of shiny gadgets. It relies on a 21st century teacher.
Great post. I agree with everything that you say and yet, I wonder when do we move on from this part of the discussion. I work with teachers daily to integrate instructional change in their classrooms. It's difficult because they are trying something new while they are teaching live, breathing students who can't afford an implementation dip or a drop in their learning. I'm not giving anyone a pass, but how do we move the discussion past the barriers to implementation?
I think there needs to be some frenzy so that excuses can be elliminated, and change can take another step closer to happening. If everyone has technology in their grasp then they can't say, I don't have access so I can't use it... Yes, access must be accompanied by training... Yes, training must be accompanied by a willingness to do something different... Yes, a willingness to do something different must be accompanied by an opportunity to try something new... but remember trying something new might mean failure and failure is not an option with high stakes accountability. Are we back where we started?
I go back to my original statement, great post! It's a difficult problem that one post (heck even the thousands of posts that have been published over the last ten years) isn't going to solve, but if we at least continue to admire the problem then we might be able to create enough support to find solutions to it, some day, and I think our president is doing his part to say the status quo is not good enough!
Good post. I have been teaching science for many years and technology for a few.
Technology is neutral, but has the potential to be empowering. A good teacher will need more preparation time to use technology in daily lessons. Many, many teachers cannot touch type. Most do not know how to use email properly. This puts them in great trouble when using a wiki or blog.
Average students in Chicago do not have computers with broadband Internet at home. At school they want to sneak to sites to 1) check email, facebook, youtube, etc. 2) shop for sneakers, phones, etc. 3) play games, search sports results, watch football or basketball 4) find pop star images.
These students do not do homework, arrive prompt to class, have books paper and pencils.
They can't read or write or type. Online activities are not truly available to them.
But most importantly they have completely no motivation to learn. Curiosity is gone. I don't see how there will be any progress with kids who leave themselves behind by not making any efforts.
Go to www.recovery.gov for a searchable database of how and where tax dollars are spent as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
IMHO teachers receive professional training that, for many reasons (good and bad), gets ignored. The best teachers willingly train themselves by seeking ideas from other professionals; also learning along and from students as new applications evolve. Enthusiasm centers on the way in which the content can be delivered or manipulated; technology is at its best when it is a backdrop.
The huge handicap is the filtering that stops teachers from finding something at home and being able to smoothly transfer it for use in the school setting. Being blocked from downloading updates or using open source applications is too often counter productive.
Along with lack of consistency between workstations in a school, lack of wireless capabilities detracts from access.
Many teachers spend out-of-pocket to get "extras" that are today's necessities like mics and headsets so students can view and/or listen to and create streaming video programs and podcasts.
I'm not an educator, but have been a technology worker for more than two decades. And I'm a new parent to a toddler.
I'm really uncomfortable with the way we're shoehorning computers into education and barraging children with technology. We seem to have been lulled into thinking that any exposure to technology is a good, educational thing so we're recklessly immersing kids into a high-tech, media-saturated environment that, I believe, could be undermining every other effort we make to raise & nurture healthy children.
Lately, I've been reading a report from the Alliance for Childhood, a nonprofit children's advocacy group, called Tech Tonic: Towards a New Literacy of Technology. This report makes a powerful indictment against the ways in which our school systems are leveraging computer technology for the sake of educating children. Simply put, there seems to be little evidence to support the assumption that young children benefit from using computers in the classroom. Worse yet, there's some evidence to strongly suggest that "Big Tech" has a controlling interest in the groups establishing the standards being used to justify the agenda for technology in education - talk about putting the fox in charge of the henhouse!
I don't pretend for a moment to know how to do it, but I'd much rather we focus on teaching children how to solve problems, think rationally, and express their creativity. The people I've come to respect & admire the most in the I.T. field are those who can reason - people who plan ahead and act with intent and focus. In almost every instance, these people are not the most technologically proficient nor have they had extensive computer education. Some of them were lucky to have had calculators in college. But they are problem-solvers - thinkers - able to consider outcomes and adjust plans accordingly. That's what I want to foster in my child. The technology stuff will fall easily into place after that.
I believe we have a responsibility to ensure that kids have the opportunities to learn to exist & thrive in the real world before we plunge them headfirst into the cyberworld.
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