R/D1

Reading through Neil Postman’s article on how technology does not provide a solution to the key problems in education, I found it to be amusing when Postman said,

“I asked him, ‘What is the problem to which cruise control is the answer?’ The question startled him, but he recovered enough to say, ‘It is the problem of keeping your foot on the gas.’ I told him I had been driving for 35 years and had never found that to be a problem.”

Ironically, while Postman uses this as an example of a technology that does not solve any real problem, he was obviously unaware that cruise control helps with fuel efficiency, saving up to 14 percent on fuel costs. This parallels a common problem that occurs when technology is introduced in school districts. Just like the salesman failing to communicate how cruise control can be used to save money, I frequently see instances of schools giving teachers a technology but not teaching them how to use it effectively. It then ends up in a closet collecting dust and resulting in people forming the opinion that technology is a waste of money. I think this legitimizes one of the roles of a technology coordinator, which is to instruct teachers on how to implement technologies effectively. Of course, a technology coordinator also assists in avoiding this situation by helping districts steer clear of purchasing a technology that truly is a waste of money.

However, I do agree with Postman when he said that “the role of the school is to help students learn how to ignore and discard information so that they can achieve a sense of coherence in their lives.” Like it or not, technology exists in our daily lives. A survey conducted by Pew Research Center found that 93% of teens and young adults aged 12-29 go online. That is why schools now have a responsibility to teach students how to evaluate the validity of the information they come across when using the Internet and how to find that information in an efficient manner.

He was also correct when he said that “one of the principal functions of school is to teach children how to behave in groups.” However, group interaction is not limited to a face-to-face environment. Students now have to be taught how to properly interact with peers in an online environment. This is especially important because the sense of anonymity in an online environment can cause students to be less disciplined in how they express themselves and in their consideration of other student’s feelings. Using tools like wikis and discussion boards in a classroom serves dual purposes: it extends the classroom outside of its physical environment and, when properly supervised, it also trains students to respect the feelings of others in an online environment. The importance of this is validated by another part of the Pew survey that said that 73% of online American teens now use social networking (up from 55% in 2006).

One key contrast between Postman’s article and Roberto Joseph’s article, which advocates the use of technology, is that Postman says that “school has never been about individualized learning” while Joseph pushes a “system that offers customization rather than standardization.” I completely agree with Joseph. I feel that addressing the individual needs of students, which are based on learning styles and prior knowledge, is essential to providing students with the best education possible. I have loved using Moodle to provide students with instant feedback on assessments and automatically assign them new material based on the results of the assessments. I also like to use mimio (electronic whiteboard) to liven up lessons with visuals and interactive applications.

My only personal grievance against technology has been that a lot of software loosely connects to the state curriculum standards. Software such as Study Island, Classworks, and MAP testing create material based on NCTM/NCTE standards or else the standards of a few key states. Then they try to package it as custom-fit to each state by simply matching what they already created to each state’s standards, rather than designing questions specifically for them. And that brings to mind a question that would be worth discussing in a separate blog entry: “Would educational technology be more effective if it were designed to fit a national set of curriculum standards used by all states?”