One of my oldest and dearest friends, Linda Bennett, took a look at my new blog and called me. She's a high school English teacher--someone on the front lines of education. And she's a GREAT teacher. In her opinion, for the English classroom, she would like to see things "go back to the way they were." That is to say, she has not had many positive experiences with technology in the classroom. In addition, she has concerns that technology is harming students' abilities to concentrate and to read and write.
We talked for a long time about the pitfalls of using technology in the classroom and the effects of all technology (TV, movies, social networking, and so on) on learning. She has a number of very valid concerns. One I'd like to "put out there" to the group is that she's talked to a number of students who are really struggling in college. One common refrain she's heard from many of them is: "technology has hurt me." They couldn't really explain why, except to say that they have difficulty concentrating.
Certainly there are pitfalls. I know that there are real and tangible benefits of having a teacher and students sharing ideas face-to-face in a classroom. The more removed we get from direct interaction, the more we can expect confusion and frustration associated with not knowing exactly what is needed and expected. I know in my own online program I have sometimes felt too isolated. I haven't had trouble in running with assignments and doing my best to enjoy them and get something out of them. I have had trouble meeting all the expectations of my instructors at times. When assignments link here and there and include videos and loop back and when I can't immediately communicate with my instructor, it can get confusing.
In addition, if the technology materials are uninspired, or the tools mundane, or the teacher can't seem to get excited about technology personally, it's likely to be more of a help than a hindrance in the classroom. Any instruction is only as good as the teacher and the lesson plan. I shudder to think about some of the stories Linda shared with me about seeing "silent and numbed out" students in front of individual computers in dark elementary school classrooms. And I know first-hand that some e-learning materials coming from publishers are not much more than a repackaging of content from the textbook, only now they are in a vehicle that isn't well-suited for its delivery.
I keep thinking that many of these concerns are related to the fact that we are undergoing a huge change in our society. E-learning has evolved in response to a new prevalence of information that has arisen around us so suddenly; but it's an effort that is still in its infancy. As a writer and editor in the field of textbook publishing, I can rely upon hundreds of years of knowledge that came before me to create textbook materials. But as a specialist in e-learning, I must jump on the fast-moving train of experience, and it's not a smooth ride!
One very valuable article on this topic is called "Web 2.0: Helping Reinvent Education," by Chris Riedel. This is a great article that I strongly suggest you check out. I feel guilty just picking and choosing quotes to share, but I'm going to do it anyway. In the article, Riedel discusses a presentation by Chris Dede, a professor in Learning Technologies at Harvard, about the need to reinvent education. Here are a few quotes that really stood out to me: (Note the "he" in the quotes is Dede.)
"In a world where learners are being shaped by the things they do outside of the classroom, he said, how do we prepare students for careers that do not exist yet and that will be driven by these very same [traditional] methods of learning?"
"Thinking is now distributed," he said, "across minds, tools and media, groups of people, space and time." "It is important, he shared, for people to be fluent in new technologies and literacies because more and more jobs are disappearing that require classical knowledge."
"What we really want kids to graduate with," he said, "is knowledge about knowledge; meta-knowledge." "Education, he insisted, should foster meaning making; it should emphasize the ability to convey ones own understanding to others."
So it's not an easy time to be incorporating technology into the classroom, yet it seems imperative. I suspect English teachers may have the hardest task, for I know that most of the knowledge I gained about knowledge, meta-knowledge, and meaning-making came while sitting right next to Linda in English class. We need our teachers to expose us to literature and teach us reading, writing, and research skills. But, the question is, can we use traditional methods to teach it, or do we need to adapt? It's easy to blame technology, but perhaps it's that we're just not doing what we need to do with technology yet. I hope that we educators can come up with solutions to the hurdles, obstacles, and pitfalls of educational technology because I do believe that technology can greatly benefit instruction if only we can find evolve quickly enough.
Riedel, Chris. (2008). Web 2.0: Helping Reinvent Education. The Journal. Retrieved from: http://thejournal.com/articles/2008/01/25/web-20-helping-reinvent-education.aspx
I was intrigued to read more on this post after the line "Technology has hurt me." It is rare to hear a student say that although I've heard heard that muttered from teachers plenty of times. I have had students tell me they would rather not use their phone in the classroom for instruction because they will be easily distracted. Lets say they are supposed to be googling something for research purposes in English class as you mentioned and then they get a Facebook update. It's too tempting to get off task and start socializing since they are in the phase of their life where they are mostly motivated by their social life anyways. But to say technology has HURT me is quite a strong statement. Do they want to abandon technology? I can't imagine a world without technology, it does so much good for us. I wonder what the student meant by that strong comment. Like Riedel reminded us, our ultimate goal as educators is to prepare our students for life beyond K-12. It is not about our state assessments, or our own isolated curriculum. It is about giving them the skills and knowledge they need to be productive citizens. A school without technology simply can not do that job. I think it is more important to teach kids how to use technology appropriately. They must be taught how to evaluate information, avoid cognitive overload, and quite simply just to stay on task.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Christie. I think the trick is learning how to teach the appropriate use of technology. It's all happening so fast that it's understandable for teachers to feel overwhelmed and unsure. I'm confident that it will feel more natural in the future, hopefully the near future!
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest problem students face is the disconnect between the technology they use with skill (video games and their cell phones) and the (usually) more archaic technology required to say, do research or collaborate online, in a college classroom. Technology is TOO broad a word, I think. Most students are cell phone and console literate but they use those items the same way I use my toaster. And, I think in college, to carry the analogy, we often ask them to make the bread.
ReplyDeleteWendy's post makes me wonder...are students viewing these tools as we do our "toaster": functional and not creative? Is that where the disconnect occurs?
ReplyDeleteHere's an interesting quote along those lines:
ReplyDelete“There’s a real opportunity to create new experiences where the technology seems to disappear, where we experience the web directly—and almost magically—in the world.”
— Steve Mushkin, Founder & President of Latitude
It comes from a fascinating study about what young children around the world want from computers of the future...
http://latd.tv/kids/kidsTech.pdf
From: Latitude. Children's future requests for computers & the internet. [Web]. Retrieved from http://latd.tv/kids/kidsTech.pdf
This was a very interesting blog. I feel the same way as Wendy. I see that today's students are very savvy with technology,however, they just want to have fun with it more than wanting to use it for educational purposes. It is interesting to see this happening in today's generation; however, I have seen this same "students' perspective" on learning when there is technology involved. In our dental hygiene program there is one instructor only that is teaching hybrid courses. She teaches the students when they get to their fourth and fifth semester of the program and the students just do not appreciate her courses because they don't like "having to do assignments and projects on the computer." They complain every year and always hit her hard on the evaluations at the end of the year. It is very frustrating for her to see this happen every year; however, she is not giving up and continues to do the best to encourage this type of learning. I believe that now that technology is being used more and more for K- 12 education, the students will be appreciative of technology integration in education.
ReplyDeleteThis article about the shortcomings of e-readers appeared in this morning's Austin American-Statesman. (It first appeared in the Dallas Morning News.) The writer's point is that e-readers do not support sustained reading and do not provide sufficient navigational cues. I thought it was a fascinating article. I'd be interested to hear people's thoughts on this.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sunherald.com/2011/08/11/3341610/schools-beware-the-e-book-bandwagon.html
That is an interesting article, but I'd really like to see more data and backup for the statements. For example, with the statement: "Not only do they accommodate a wider array of learning styles, but they also encourage more attentive reading and study." the article goes on to cite a couple of studies that back up the attentiveness claim, but nowhere is the "accommodate a wider array of learning styles" supported. My experience is exactly the opposite--the iPad is a wonderful tool for accommodating a variety of reading styles. Also, regarding the attentiveness claims, the studies were done with older students. I think the transition is not a smooth one for people who have grown up using traditional textbooks, but for the kids who are given iPads or the like in elementary school, they are just as likely (if not more likely) to be attentive with an iPad vs a textbook. I don't have any studies to back that up, I'm just going on the videos and articles I've read. I think it's really too soon to say for sure--transitions are difficult. Time will tell.
ReplyDelete