Chapter 1: Key Themes and Issues for Using Technology in Your Classroom

The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the key themes and issues that will be revisited throughout the book.

The following questions are addressed:

• How does the role of the teacher as facilitator differ from more traditional teacher roles?
• What are the most common inequities in computer use?
• How is technology use related to school reform?
• How do national educational standards apply to technology and how do they get translated into classroom practice?
• Why are students not actively involved with the technology that is already in schools?
• What are the characteristics of activity-based approaches to learning?
• What experiences are influential in preparing future teachers to make use of technology in their classrooms?

I. Themes of technology use in the classroom (pp. 11-16)

This book emphasizes some specific themes. While many issues are considered, a set of themes we feel are interrelated and potentially most beneficial will receive the most attention.

I.A Technology integrated into content-area instruction.

This theme concerns the knowledge and skills students will learn. Our emphasis is on applications of technology that are useful in helping students learn traditional academic subjects. We recognize that "computer literacy" is important and potentially a new and unique academic subject. However, computer literacy is not a central theme and many "literacy skills" will be picked up as students make use of technology in their own learning.

I.B A tools approach

Even when focused on content area instruction, technology can be used in a variety of ways. We place the greatest emphasis on "tool applications." We label flexible, general-purpose applications as technological tool. Such applications would include word processing, spreadsheet software, Internet searching, multimedia construction and similar "reusable" examples of technology.

I.C An active role for students

The activities emphasized in this book can be related to specific models (theories) of learning. What the specific theories (see Chapter 2) share is an emphasis on the active student processing of experience. Knowledge and skills are not presented to students, but constructed by them in response to information and learning tasks. We want teachers to consider how, and perhaps if, learning experiences are encouraging students to perform this type of mental work.

I.D Teacher as facilitator

When students play a more active role in constructing their own understanding, the teacher's role shifts from "dispenser of information" to "facilitator of learning." The issue for preservice or practicing teachers is what this distinction "looks like" in practice. If presenting is not enough, how do teachers interact with students and structure the learning environment to encourage, support, and perhaps even develop the processes involved in constructing knowledge?

I.E A multidisciplinary approach

While content-area applications are emphasized, many of the tasks proposed to encourage active learning involve students in several directions. For example, communication skills (e.g., writing or even multimedia design) are heavily involved in content areas such as science.

I.F Standards and performance based assessment

Standards identify what students should know or be able to do. Performance based assessment techniques offer evaluation strategies when a standard focuses on applying a skill.

I.G Cooperative learning

Student cooperation is frequently involved in proposed learning activities as a way to encourage active learning and as a practical way to make use of limited technology resources or to provide a service it might be difficult for the teacher to provide (e.g., tutoring, providing frequent feedback during the preliminary stages of product development).

II. Technology in Today's Classroom (pp. 16-19)

The purpose of this section is to provide future and practicing teachers some insight into what typical schools and classrooms look like when it comes to technology. While some data are available, there are at least two factors which still make the picture a but fuzzy:

• technology is an area of rapid change and data are dated even before they can be published
• statistical descriptions need to include both a measure of central tendency (something like the mean) and a way to represent the variability that exists around what is reported as "typical."

Most of the statistical data reported in the book were published in 2003 and 2004. To give you insight into how dated these statistics are, your textbook has a publication date of 2006 and the content was written in 2005. This delay in combination with the rate of technological change is one reason we feel it is important to augment the book with these web resources. You will find resources throughout this web site now and in the future that differ from what you find in our book. We will update the online resources when we learn of additional or new content we feel is significant.

The book not only offers data describing patterns of typical use, but provides some indicators of just how different schools are and some of the reasons they are different.

II.A Student access to technology (data from 2003)

The number of computers and the likelihood students will have Internet access has increases rapidly.

• from 1992-2003, the ratio of students to computers dropped from 13:1 to 4:1
• from 1994-2003, the percentage of schools with Internet access rose from 35% to 90%+. More than 80% of classrooms have Internet access in schools with Internet access.

There are some qualifications that apply to these data:

• The conditions vary greatly among schools
• At the level of individual states, the student to computer ratio for high end machines varies from 1.4:1 to 5.5:1.
• Do not infer too much from access data. "Classroom" use of computers is not a frequent experience for a high proportion of students and more than half report using a computer less than 15 minutes a week on a classroom task.

One important recent change has been in the location of computers within the schools. Between 2002 and 2003 the ratio of student to classroom computer dropped from 9.2:1 to 7.9:1 (Park & Staresina, 2004). The combination of more desktop computers in classrooms and more laptop computers changes where students use computers. Location is probably associated with the conditions of use. Computers located in lab settings allow group access, but often require that this access be scheduled. There is also at least one study (Ravitz, Wong & Becker, 1999) indicating that the immediacy of access to technology can be related to frequency of use.

II.B What students do with computers

It appears that the most frequent student use of technology involves the use of computers as a tool. Word processing is the most frequently reported application. The most frequently mentioned categories of use are word processing, Internet research, and CD-ROM research (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2001).

Tool applications are a new found focus. Past data indicated a greater emphasis on drill activities, computer literacy and Internet research.

II.C Resources, Equity and Student Activity

As technology resources became more prevalent in school settings, differences associated with the SES background of the students attending schools began to emerge. Federal programs have addressed these differences and the resource gap has narrowed. Important differences remain. First, adjustments made to school resources do not adequately compensate for large differences in resources and experiences outside of school. Students with few opportunities outside of school cannot continue to work on assignments made in school. Students with few opportunities outside of school are less experienced technology users and may require greater assistance when asked to complete school assignments relying on technology. Second, there is evidence that what students are encouraged to do with technology varies as a function of SES. Such differences may be a function of differences in technology sophistication and also assumptions regarding the academic skills most in need of attention.

III. Technology and School Reform (pp. 19-25)

Some arguments for educational change are based on assumptions about the changing world and the skills needed to adapt to these changes.

III.A National Education Technology Plan and Partnership for 21st Century Skills

Major studies note the gap between how students live and how they learn. Technology is both a cause of this gap and a potential partial remedy. While major planning efforts see a continued focus on core subject areas, what we learn about these subjects, how we learn the subjects, and how we learn to apply knowledge and skills may change. We must find ways to improve the capacity for self-directed learning, higher-order thinking skills, communication skills, and information literacy skills.

More on the National Education Technology Plan

III.B Restructuring schools

Advocates of educational restructuring argue either that schools are stressing the wrong things or that the methods schools employ are ineffective. Many of the learning activities emphasized in this book are consistent with suggestions for educational reform.

Key contrasts between conventional and restructured educational settings:

III.E Standards

Standards are goals for what students should learn and thus establish what teachers should teach. The word standard is used in several ways. "Content standards" define what every student should know and be able to do. "Performance standards" explain how students will demonstrate their proficiency in order to establish that a standard has been achieved. It is important to understand that performance standards are indicators of more general goals and not the goals themselves.

Standards are written on many levels of detail. On the national level, professional organizations establish general goals. Benchmarks define a general standard according to a system describing what should be accomplished by the end of grade level intervals - e.g., k-2, 6-8, 9-12. States and often local school districts interpret these standards and benchmarks. A "curriculum framework" specifies the knowledge and skills to be acquired and relates these goals to general instructional processes and assessment techniques.

III.E.1 Technology Standards

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established standards and benchmarks that define general expecations for what students and teachers should know about and be able to do with technology.

Standards for Teachers

Standards for Students

Many teacher education programs are accredited by NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education). NCATE relies on ISTE to evaluate the preparation of most teachers. ISTE or Association for Education and Communication Technology (AECT) standards are applied in evaluating certain specializations.

2007 student standards refreshed

2008 teacher standards refreshed

IV. Changing the Way Technology is Used in Schools (pp. 25-32)

Teacher preparation and training are key to changing the way technology is used in schools.

IV.A Four persectives on technology and school reform

While most would probably accept the statement that technology presently is not playing the role in K-12 education that it might, there is considerable disagreement over whether this situation will change. A more optimistic and somewhat related question is whether the presence of some ideal amount of equipment, powerful software, and Internet access would in some way cause educators to change how they teach.

A number of recent studies have attempted to address these questions and have reached some very different conclusions (the basis for our comment about the elephant). Information about these studies and sometimes the entire study can be found online. We offer our own brief interpretation of each study and, if available, a link to the online version of the study below. Applied research is difficult to conduct and alternative explanations are often possible. It is a great exercise to review the conclusions, methodology and results and determine if you would reach the same conclusion.

1. Becker, H. & Ravitz, J. (1999) (see summary). The influence of computer and Internet use on teachers’ pedagogical practices and perceptions. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 31(4), 356–384.
- This is the most optimistic of the studies and claims a link between using technology and changes in teaching practice. The opportunities provided by the technology cause teachers to change how they teach.

2. Cuban, L., Kirkpatrick, H., & Peck, C. (2001). High access and low use of technologies in high school classrooms: Explaining an apparent paradox. American Educational Research Journal, 38(4), 813–834.
Cuban, L. (2001). Oversold and underused: Computers in the classroom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

- These are the most pessimistic of the studies and probably the most well known. The author(s) claim factors endemic to educational practice (e.g., departmentalization by discipline, 50 minute periods) make it unlikely student experiences will change. If change does occur, it will likely be that technology will be used to replicate existing teaching practices.

3. Windschitl, M. & Sahl, K. (2002). Tracing teachers’ use of technology in a laptop computer school: The interplay of teacher beliefs, social dynamics, and institutional culture. American Educational Research Journal, 39(1), 165–205.

- This is an intermediate position. The presence of adequate technological resources leads to change, but only among teachers with specific belief systems about teaching and learning. Technology provides certain teachers the opportunity to act on personally held beliefs.

4. Schofield, J. & Davidson, A. (2002). Bringing the Internet to school: Lessons from an urban district. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

IV.B Teacher preparation

Preservice teachers report feeling unprepared to use technology with students. Several explanations for this lack of preparation include:

Education colleges lack the resources necessary to provide the necessary experiences

The responsibility for preparing teachers to use technology is often limited to a single course and what is learned in this course is not implemented or modeled in other education courses

IV.C Practicing teachers

There has been a long standing assumption that as new college graduates enter the work force the greater exposure of the younger generation to technology will result in a significant increase in classroom use of technology. New research challenges this assumption. One study (Bebell, Russell & O'Dwyer, 2004) concludes that new teachers are less likely to involve students with technology than teachers who have been in the work force for a few years. The explanation makes for this finding makes sense - new teachers are simply overwhelmed. It seems it takes a while to balance the many demands of the classroom environment and to find ways to integrate technology.

Support for practicing teachers is essential. Even if the preparation of inservice teachers could be drastically improved, new opportunities for using technology in classrooms emerge at a rapid pace providing a very practical example of the need to be a life long learner. Why would we want the teaching profession to be any other way? How teachers respond to new opportunities is telling. Teachers are used to feeling secure in their knowledge of the subject matter and in control of how students will experience this content. We try to encourage teachers to recognize that learning something with their students offers some unique opportunities. Learning something new is challenging and the process hardly ever is accomplished without some set backs. Working on something with students affords teachers the opportunity to model problem solving and persistence.

Technology facilitators - supporting teacher use of technology

V. The Activity-Based or Design Model (pp. 32-36)

We make a special effort to explore one particular way of using technology. This approach might be described (using the words of other authors or researchers) as activity-based learning, the project approach, the computer as a mindtool, and design projects.

This approach recommends that at least part of the time available for instruction be shifted to hands-on, student-centered, collaborative projects. A substantial proportion of our explanations and many of our examples focus on explaining the characteristics of projects as learning activities and how teachers can implement project-based learning in their classrooms.

8/12/08