Over the past several days I have been coming across and exploring many blogs on the role of technology in education. It seems to be such a muddled world – some teachers seem to be light years ahead in the integration of these technologies into their classrooms. This is exciting but there are a couple things that I have come across that raise some questions in my mind.
First – the time teachers are spending trying to figure out these new technologies and how to use them. Teachers already complain about their work loads and lack of time. I know that in my own personal experience I can spend hours upon hours playing around looking into technologies and often the result is that I often never use them. Is this a wise way for teachers to be spending their precious time? Is this the best way for a teacher to spend his/her time?
This problem is further emphasized by the multiple levels of our education system that often seem to be at odds with each other. I have come across several blogs where teachers talk about how they have been utilizing sites like flickr or youtube to help illustrate issues or initiate discussion in their classrooms. I personally think that this is awesome. Then within the same blog you read about how the school district has initiated a new filtering system that now blocks out these sites and the teacher has to change their approach. This is in great part a level of disjuncture. Why are the teachers not talking to the district?
I think technology rocks. I also think that technology eats up huge amounts of our time under the pretense that somehow it is going to save us time. I am not convinced.
I think it is very exciting the idea of bringing the internet and all of its benefits into the classroom. Yes, there are dangers – inappropriate material entering the classroom – but this has been an issue since the beginning of time. Porn was around before the internet and I know that there are magazines with graphic images in them available on street corners all over the country. I do not think that the educational opportunities provided by the internet should be dictated by fears that are then used to direct the educational tools and opportunities available to our teachers.
There needs to be a national discussion and emphasis on bringing these technologies into our classrooms in a way that is easy and simple for our teachers – not a system that is ad-hoc and can suddenly be limited by some higher up because of fears around lawsuits.
It is – like most things – a balancing act. I just hope our teachers don’t forget that there time is most beneficially spent teaching and that our administrators don’t forget that their role is to make that easier for the teachers.
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I think this is a largely generational thing. Younger generations typically have a greater understanding and are more at ease using technology. There are of course, exceptions, but I find that my parents are far less comfortable with technology than I am (setting the VCR clock, for example) and that younger generations seem to inherently be inclined towards technology. This will be even more true of generations to come.
So, the younger crop of teachers will be able to use technology in such a way that it is efficient and advantageous to the teaching environment, while older teachers might struggle and be frustrated.
I am in no way “badmouthing” older teachers – they have far more worldly knowledge than the younger teachers. But when it comes to technology, a teacher who’s been on the internet since they could read has a distinct advantage over one who was an adult when they were first introduced to these technological advances.
I disagree, Taylor. The younger generation does not have a greater understanding of technology.
I used to agree with you but when I worked at NMS, I noticed that technology is absolutely normalized and transparent to the younger generation. When an online analyst interacts with the Internet, it is With The Internet — they don’t know what TCP/IP is, they’re not concerned with protocol, or transport, or anything. The Internet is either “fast” or “slow” — it doesn’t matter where the bottleneck is: laggy Internet access or a computer ravaged by Spyware.
The total number of us A/V nerds is a wash. There are no more technologists than there were ten years ago, and there isn’t a run on new engineers and MIT. It isn’t about greater understanding at all — it is only the ease with which the technology is used.
This new generation is used to the Internet and Ubiquitous Connectivity and Computing the same way someone from a hundred years ago became used to seeing Horseless Carriages, used to hearing the Ring of a Telephone, Used to Moving Pictures, and Used to the Light Bulb.
The way my Parents became used to the TV and I was born to the Television; however, I am a geek and have torn apart a TV and know what a TV is and am curious as to why a TV is.
That isn’t generational, that is innate.
I work for IT in a school district and it is really hard to lump being proficient in technology to a generational thing. I’ve seen new teachers that are very clueless to technology and i’ve seen many older teachers that breeze through it. No matter how skilled the person is in “technology” the biggest issue about technology in teaching is the reliability. Technology breaks, and school districts are understaffed compared to our corporate counter parts, and when something is not working properly it is very frustrating to a teacher who has planned an entire day around using a particular technology.
-Jeff O’Hara
http://blog.zemote.com
Saul, interesting post. An important point you bring up is, “There needs to be a national discussion and emphasis on bringing these technologies into our classrooms in a way that is easy and simple for our teachers.” This is true on a few levels: funding, installation, training, and classroom implementation. It has to be made easily available to not only the teachers, but more importantly the districts.
Last year, I took a class in my graduate program called, “Universal Design for Learning: Addressing Learner Differences,” which dealt with the neurological underpinnings of learner differences and designing ways to address these differences through implementing pedagogical methods that involve technology. I found the class fascinating, but light years ahead of what can be realistically brought into the classroom at present. The course was taught by David H. Rose, founder of the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), an organization that designs innovative software programs for classrooms and raises funds to implement the software. The group has been making inroads on the national level by advocating for legislation mandating that all classrooms be “universally designed.” In other words, requiring classrooms to be equipped with the tools to address all types of learners. Again, the group is visionary — planting the seeds for what may be not come to fruition for decades. (See http://www.cast.org)
As for now, as an educator, I can’t be bothered. Less using the internet for a quick content clarification or Inspiration (a software used for paper-writing), I don’t use it in instruction. The tools just simply are not quick enough to install, learn, and use at this time. For teachers to use technology frequently and on a large scale, software and other technology developers need to consider creating tools that are integrated into lesson plans and easy to use. As a sidenote, we could learn a lot from Japan in this arena.
I didn’t mean to say it was a completely generational thing (in fact I don’t think I said that at all…). There are IT experts who are 60+ and there are 25 year olds who don’t know the first thing about setting up a network. I was only trying to say that in my experience, it seems like older generations have a tougher learning curve – that however says nothing about their potential for learning.
Also, Chris, I meant to say. I’ve taken apart a few DLPs, CRTs, and Plasmas in my day – and I agree. Some of us are just more technically inclined than others, and that will be true of any generation.
I was pretty amazed and impressed by how transparent all the technology is to “kids nowadays.”
Fetishing the television for the show, fetishing the car for the drive, or fetishing the camera for the photography is an in-between-place.
When I used to be a photographer, the camera was invisible to me. When I met young shooters, they were obsessed with the gear I used, the film I chose, and so forth.
It was never about the camera at all.
So, in many ways, this is all better.
* Best way to spend time? Yes.
* Why not talking to the district? See above.
* Technology will save us time? Nope!
Technology is enabling newer generations to behave and interact differently, and the distance between technological generations is to my mind increasing the distance between generational behavior. The only way to try and bridge this is to engage with the new technologies as they become available.
I realize these comments are pithy, and I want to first thank you for this thought-provoking post. I believe a read of Vinge’s Rainbows End can provide a great view of where we are headed based on current technological trajectories.
If we are to be relevant in 15 years, we have to adapt now. Wait and see won’t work because as the technologies are changing and improving, the behaviors are as well, and it the bus will be moving too fast to hop on from a standstill. Start with brisk walks and a little light jogging, it may be possible to keep up… At least that is my hope! :D
While I believe we should make access to technology a priority in our educational system, I disagree with the “easy and simple” solution. You might think that sounds callas, but as a parent with kids, especially in a public school system, I am so tired of teachers not performing because things aren’t “easy and simple”.
Look, Teachers are professionals. I expect them to learn new things at a pace and rate in which they expect their students to learn. Technology is nothing new, especially if you’re a fairly new teacher. These people know technology will be part of the teaching experience, why do we need to lower our expectations for adoption?
And Jana, statements like this, “As for now, as an educator, I can’t be bothered” only fuel my fire to relieve Teachers like you of their burden. Get out. Do something “easy and simple”. Because that’s not the attitude I want our future leaders exposed too.
Well, I agree with Janna because I teach blogging and know that the majority of my class could be taught without the Internet and without the PC.
Computers and technology and the like are major distractions to a classroom, especially when they don’t work or when teachers use them as compensation devices for the inability to teach, to engage, or to connect.
Most lessons in reading, writing, science, and mathematics can be much more effective without technology. Even programming can be done without a PC initially — and should be, until the students grok the theory behind it all.
That’s all I think that Janna was saying.
Would it be useful to distinguish between tools and technology? While ripping apart a television suggests one category of knowledge, aptitude and proclivities, it says nothing about your ability, aptitude and proclivity to memorize your cable line up or to know all the episodes of star trek.
imho, technology is about tweaking under the covers. in the age of the buggy whip, it’s riding and stabling a horse vs. veterinary medicine and horse breeding. in the pervasive internet age most teachers only need to grasp the tools and resources available to them; they need not code.
as for tools that don’t work and unfilled budgets, Janna has my sympathy. slow connections on flaky gear with ancient software will turn off anyone.
a broader question, Saul, might be if technology can help teachers and schools challenge the overall design of k-12 education, with all the bits left over from the agricultural revolution (summers off) and the industrial revolution (education factories).
I can see us aspiring to the tools of Neil Stephenson’s Diamond Age. The “Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer; a Propaedeutic Enchiridion in which is told the tale of Princess Nell and her various friends, kin, associates, &c.” is an AI that teaches Nell (the interactive book adapted its title to the student) everything from survival skills to engineering, staying with her from young childhood, adapting and adjusting, and providing conduits for mentors-at-a-distance.
Education is more than fact transmission, obviously, so I’m always eager to discover new ways to use all sorts of tools to help. For example, there’s a movement in language arts to pair up language labs in different countries. Spanish students in Ohio get to talk via Skype with English students in Argentina; 30 minutes in each language with a native speaker. The biggest challenges seem to be that some languages are more popular than others and time zones make some language pairings inconvenient.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Diamond_Age
Sorry I’ve not caught up with this conversation. To Thom’s point, I hear you. I, too, get frustrated by that attitude, and find myself slipping into it. My experience running an education masters program for teachers in the Bronx makes me empathetic to teachers not wanting to learn new technologies. These teachers are lucky if they have enough chairs. So, my perspective is a bit skewed.
The issue really lies in accessibility and making sure the equipment works, in the first place. Bill Gates and company are trying to bring these tools into the classroom in the city, but frankly, the electrical systems in some of the schools can’t handle it. Anyway, complications arise is my point, even when a teacher is eager to learn new methods.
As a teacher I found it a lot more challenging to use technology in the classroom than to avoid it. The blocks put on the school’s system were out of control, I couldn’t even access museum sites or do web searches for images bc they were all blocked.
The unfortunate reality of that situation is that the kids are more adept at skirting these blocks than the ITs at the school (and definitely more adept than me). A happy median has to be found between limiting the access of students and enabling the teachers to use the limitless possiblities of the internet.