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Chapter 1: Key Themes and Issues for Using Technology in Your ClassroomThe purpose of this chapter is to introduce the key themes and issues that will be revisited throughout the book. The following questions are addressed:
I. Themes of technology use in the classroom (pp. 9-12)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 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. 12-15)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:
Most of the statistical data reported in the book were published in 2001. To give you insight into how dated these statistics are, your textbook has a publication date of 2003 and the content was written in 2002. 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 2001) The number of computers and the likelihood students will have Internet access has increases rapidly.
There are some qualifications that apply to these data:
One important recent change has been in the location of computers within the schools. In 1992, 10% of computers were located in classrooms. By 2000, at least 50% of computers are located in classrooms. So at least proportionally, there has been a migration of computers from locations such as computer labs and libraries into classrooms. The location of computers is important. The 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 and computer literacy. II.C Resources, Equity and Student Activity II.C.1 Resources Data reported in 2001, indicate that schools spent approximately $120 per student on technology (Market Data Retrieval, 2001). This may seem like a lot of money, but this sum needs to be interpreted by understanding that the actual total investment per student is approximately $6,100. The $120 expenditure breaks down into 63% spent on hardware, 20% on software, and 17% spent on training and support. In contrast to the way business and industry support technology, educational institutions underfund training and support. II.C.2 Equity Educators confront the issue of equity when they consider whether or not all students have the same opportunities to learn with technology. Specific equity issues are considered in Chapter 10 (SES, gender, etc.). There is evidence that inequities have existed and that schools have taken steps to address inequities. It seems that biases apparent in resource priorities may influence how resource inequities have been addresses. Computer availability and Internet access have been addressed more aggressively than training and support. III. Technology and School Reform (pp. 15-25)Some arguments for educational change are based on assumptions about the changing world and the skills needed to adapt to these changes. III.A Learning to think and learning to learn Assuming that many of the jobs of the future do not exist at present and also recognizing that workers of the future are likely to move through several different jobs, it can be argued that focusing heavily on job specific skills is pointless. Instead, students need to develop more general thinking and problem-solving skills and need to be prepared to learn throughout their lives. III.B Growing information It can also be argued that because the rate of information production has accelerated so dramatically information mastery (knowing) is impossible and information location will become of greater importance. Greater emphasis should be devoted to the development of skills needed to find problem-relevant information and to interpret and apply this information in the solution of problems. III.C 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. 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. 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. National Technology Plan - The Department of Education establishes goals to improve the classroom use of technology. IV. Changing the Way Technology is Used in Schools (pp. 25-30)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 1. Becker, H. & Ravitz, J. (1999). (see section concerning impact of computer use on beliefs) The influence of computer and Internet use on teachers’ pedagogical practices and perceptions. Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 31(4), 356–384. 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. - 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 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. The Computer Coordinator - comments on the challenges facing computer coordinators. V. The Activity-Based or Design Model (pp. 30-35)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.
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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.