In our modern technological culture there is a sentiment technology can solve any problem instantaneously. Feeling disconnected from friends and family? Connect on Twitter or Facebook. Have a nagging question you can’t answer? Google it. Low on funds and need a great deal? Compare prices online with your mobile device. Feel like schools are not meeting your child’s needs? Put technology in the classroom to provide better learning opportunities. If we’re able than we ought to, right??
Can technology be integrated in education and improve student learning? Absolutely.
Is technology the magic elixir which will cure all of our educational ills? Hardly.
Admittedly the mystique and power of technology is alluring, but it’s not the novelty and capacity of technology which are game-changers in education. Any parent knows bribery has a limited life span for enticing children. Similarly you can drive across the street to a friend’s house, but it’s certainly not efficient.
What is it that technology actually accomplishes in the classroom?
In a nutshell, technology facilitates learning through new mediums that create space to directly engage material with other learners allowing students to create meaningful connections.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
Secondary level science can often fall into the dry, passive lecture mode where students are focused on memorization and the right answer. Even teacher PowerPoints can fall into the category of cosmetic technology. Applying technology inside the box is using it as a band-aid. The challenge and promise of positively and appropriately integrating technology requires reframing the situation “to break free from old ways of thinking and explore new opportunities made possible by new technologies” (Bransford, Lin, & Schwartz, 2000). The unique feature technology possesses is allowing a shift in education from instruction to construction. Technology tends to be inherently collaborative and social, albeit not always in a face-to-face way. Technology provides a pathway to make learning student-centered, collaborative, and active. When students recognize connections between concepts, they create meaning. Meaningful information is what students retain (Bucci, et al., 2003).
One way to achieve student-centered learning is to use technology to automate grading thereby freeing teachers to focus on providing immediate feedback, chances to correct mistakes and help when learning difficult material (Kashy, et al., 1998). Technology can also be used to efficiently investigate what students are thinking by organizing student feedback, questions and interests (Bransford, Lin, & Schwartz, 2000).
Staying on top of technology is practically a full time job. A constructivist minded teacher knows their students are part of their learning community. Invite students to showcase their technological skills and teach you some new tricks. Teach them the value of contributing and using knowledge regardless of age or societal position.
Is technology always the answer to improving education? No.
Having students create their own pendulums to explore momentum, forces, and kinetic/potential energy trumps passively showing them a video of a pendulum moving. It’s not the novelty or ability of technology which improves education; rather it is using technology to create active, collaborative learning moments where students recognize connections between concepts.
References
Bransford, J., Lin, X., & Schwartz, D. (2000). Technology, learning, and Schools: Comments on articles by Tom Carroll & Gerald Bracey. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 1(1), 145-182.
Bucci, T.T., Copenhaver, L.J., Lehman, B., & O’Brien, T. (2003). Technology Integration: Connections to Educational Theories. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 3(1), 26-42.
Kashy, E., Thoennessen, M., Tsai, Y., Davis, N.E., & Wolfe, S.L. (1998). Using Networked Tools to Promote Student Success in Large Classes. Journal of Engineering Education, 87(4), 385-390.
As I look back on my secondary education, the biggest challenge teachers had in integrating technology as it was so rapidly changing seems two-fold: learning how to use the new technology him/herself, and how to make it collaborative & not merely another instructive top-down tool. When the internet exploded on the scene, if you will, it seems as if teachers viewed it less as a tool and more as a restriction; all sources had to be confirmed in a textbook, for instance. It's amazing to see that change, but it seems so important for educators, as you say, to ensure that its instructive nature is collaborative.
ReplyDeleteLike a textbook, technology is only efficacious when wielded by a user who understands his/her tool. Just because the teacher assigned a textbook chapter doesn't mean they are best communicating the information; to teach a subject requires a mastery, and it would seem that technology is yet another expected subject for mastery that teachers need.
The high school my mom teaches at gave iPads to all of the kids a year or so ago. It is both a good educational tool, especially in the maths and sciences. It can also be helpful for liberal arts classes too, like history and literature. The biggest problem that she sees is the kids going on to facebook and bullying has increased because they constantly have access to the internet. When school was cancelled for several days in Minnesota, mom's school district was able to have a digital learning day because of the individual class websites that the kids could connect to using their iPads. So there are both good and bad things about having access to technology in schools.
ReplyDeleteThe digital learning day idea is interesting - great in affluent communities where you're assured everyone has internet access.
DeleteI completely agree with "yup"... everyone does have to have home internet access in order for this to work, which is generally in affluent communities.
DeleteI live in a fairly affluent community, and our middle schools issue laptops for each student and they have several "e-learning" days, where students stay home and complete on-line assignments, while teachers benefit form an extra day of professional development. It's been an interesting discussion in my community--especially what to do with middle school students who do not have adult supervision to stay at home for an e-day.
Simply exposing kids to technology and allowing them to be familiarize themselves is a requirement for the jobs they will get later in life, too. The person who is not comfortable with a computer will be severely limited in their future occupational choices. The more kids use a variety of technological tools, applications, modules, etc, the more they will be able to be creative with the ways they use it, developing the next generation of technological advancements.
ReplyDeleteI agree technological knowledge is essential for future jobs however, like I stated, it's not simply the knowledge that's important. You also have to have the skills and competence to use the technology properly. All too often I've seen schools and teachers that are failing in this regard.
DeleteAs a community, we have to up our game in this arena specifically. We have to model and teach appropriate behavior, especially since these students are generally more gifted technologically than their teachers are.
I think technology in the classroom is a sticky subject.
ReplyDeleteStudents are excellent at picking out "fakes". Technology is no exception. It is very evident which teachers are not experts at using technology. (Since technology is such a part of society, these teachers should be working to understand it and develop their technological abilities, so they can use it effectively in their classroom.)
Also, districts and principals that "require" technology in the classroom can lead to lessons that are just as "fake". Technology is not something just to throw in wherever you feel like it. It needs to have its own organic place and purpose in your lesson plan.
Finally, school districts, principals, teachers and parents need to work together to educate students on proper use of technology. From social media etiquette to how to research, someone needs to be modeling and teaching how one should utilize the public space of the web. It's important that students understand the permanence of things posted online, as well as the fluidity of sites like wikipedia, where anyone can modify a page. There are correct and incorrect ways to use both.